I Love Ya Truly
by regertz
Summary: -Set after William's destruction in S7...With the aid of some demon brew,  a little party at Angel's new offices to celebrate William's resurrection in  LA gives Buffy her chance to say it and prove it...The hard way...
1. Chapter 1

"I Love Ya...Truly..."

PG-13

Summary: With the aid of some demon brew, a little party at Angel's new offices to celebrate William's resurrection in LA gives Buffy her chance to say it and prove it...The hard way...

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Play theme (If I Loved You...)

Part I...

LA, alternate universe, just after the Sunnydale battle, late evening...An alley outside Angel Investigations' new offices at the old Wolfram-Hart building...

Crashing sounds as two large green demons are hurled out a side door...

"And stay out...!..." Angel's voice calls...Slamming the door...

Ohhhh...One rises...

"Chester!..." he calls, rubbing his frontal skull horns...Always hurts when Angel hits those...

Arrrggh...Chester staggers up...

"What happened...?"

"Angel and William the Bloody clobbered us that's what happened..."

Never saw em...The office was too dark...Chester notes...Hey, though...

"But...Isn't Spike dead?..." Chester eyes his pal...All seven mucous feet of him...

Nah...the other, Sid, shakes what passes for a head...I just got the call while we were in there...They were about to abort our mission here...

"The Firm's survivors tried to resurrect him tonight...But Angel found out about it and screwed things up...It's human William the soul in that Bloody body, not Spike...Damn it all..."

Well...He sighs...At least we accomplished our end...Albeit it's no use now...William and Angel are already workin' together, that's obvious...There's no point in drugging Angel with that phony brew we put in his fridge...No Spike to come and kill him...

"They might both get plastered on it...Then fight...Or we could have someone come round to get 'em...Lets get some guys and try it in a hour or two?..." A dedicated employee of Wolfram-Hart is Chester...

Angel...And William?...Together...Drunk or sober?...Even with our intellect-depressing brew helping out...Not a chance...

"Lets just be glad we're alive and hope those two wind up with a hell of a hang-over..."

Leastways we didn't screw tonight's mission up...Sid notes as they head off...

Two hours later...

An aggrieved-looking Buffy enters Angel's office...Throwing the front door open...A rather plastered William stands up, startled...

"Buf..fy?..." he stares at her...Swaying...

William...she looks back...Trembling a bit...

"It is you?...You, William?..."

Yeah...he nods...Searching her face...

She tries to maintain a cold calm...

"What happened...?" she eyes the wreckage in the office... "I called all the way in from Crestwood...Nobody answered the phone..."

Eh...he shrugs...Ang'land I...he wobbles a bit on his feet...

Angel swings round in his chair, sprawled and looks up...Hya, Buf!...Hic...

Welcam to L...A... He solemnly greets her...

"Wanna a little drink?..." he offers a bottle...

No...Thank you...she glares... Looking round...Damn...

"I knew it...William...? You just resurrected and you two were at it right away?..." she frowns...

"So?...Whadayou care, girl?..." he staggers back to his seat...

But ifya needta know...We was fightin' demons...A whole crew...My vamp bro and me...

Demons?...she looks at Angel...Who nods...Ahole crew...alltwo...He holds up four fingers...

"Look, William...I just came cause I heard you were resurrected and I wanted..."

"Sowhatsit to you..." he frowns at her waving an arm... "Whatdid you care when I dissoci...dissolva..."

"Dissolved..." Angel solemnly corrects...Nodding at him...

"Right...Dissolved...Thanks ole pal..." Will pats Angel's arm as Buffy glares...

But she senses some real pain there...

"I cared...I told you I loved..." He bangs the table...Angel nods...

"Buffyshit..." he glares at her... "It's alllllll...Buffyshit...!" Head wobbing...

Right, ole pal?...he turns to Angel...Who nods stiffly...All Buffyshit...And he oughta know...

"Jesus...William..." she hisses... "Can't we go somewhere and...After you sleep this off...Talk things over...?"

"If youd loved me...Ya woulda stayed..." he frowns at her... "Til the bitt'r end..."

Dru woulda stayed...When she luved me...Whay...Back wheeen...he waved his arms...

"I woulda died...Hell, I did die for ya...And I woulda stayed with ya...If the rules...roars..."

Roles?...she hisses...What the hell have you two been drinking?...

Angel waves the bottle again...Wan some...?

Later...she frowns...Thanks...

"Right..." Will nods... "Roles...Was reserved...er reversed..."

Ummn...she blinks a little...

"Ya jumped inta the hole for lil' Dawny, right?...Thats whatya did...Thas wha she did, right, Angel?..."

"Ye...up..." Angel solemnly nods...Hiccupping...

Arrgh...

"But not for William...Uman-souled William...Souled nice and neat for you..." He put an extended hand down several times like a chopper on the table for emphasis..."...you icile...Ici..."

"Icicle?..." she asks, hands folded...

Ya...Thanks...he sits...

"Will...If you thought I didn't care...You're wrong...I cared...And I do care...Maybe I was wrong to say...It...The way I did but..."

"I luvya...That's what she said..." Will turns back to Angel...Banging the table for emphasis...

Angel nods solemnly...Thats what she says all right...he notes...

I luvya...But any fool could tell ya didn't mean it...Will sighs...

"I meant it...In a way...At the time..." she begins...

Oh Lord...He rolls his eyes, glaring again...She withers a bit...

"You have a place in my heart...I told Angel that...Didn't I?..." she looks at Angel desperately...

"I supp...ose...you did..." Angel replies...Pondering the matter...

Yep...You did...he nods...

Urggh...

"And now...Youre here...Back again..." Will wags a finger... "Wan me to go savda world for you again?...Or wha is it this time...?...More using ole Willy lika punching bab?"

That's the way she dos it...Angel nods...Alla time...He puts a forefinger down hard on the table in front of him for emphasis...Ow...!

"Look...I'll come back tomorrow...After you've slept this off..." she sighs... "I really do want to talk things over, William...Please..."

"Oh...Buf...!" he moans, putting his head in his hands, halting her in mid-turn away... "Ya didn't stay with me...Not even a try of a resuccc..."

Resur-hic-rection...Angel helpfully suggests... "Ya, right..." Will resumes...

"Didntcha even care enough to put me up a proper tombstone...?"

Ummn...She stares...

"We...Ummn..."

Not even a freakin' plaque...He begins sobbing...Angel staggers over and pats his poor lil' soul brother...Glaring at Buffy who shakes her head...Please...I...

"We were going to...I wanted to check things...I..." she begins to break down a little...

"I didn't know your name, William...Or where in England you were from...I was having Willow and Giles check after things with the new Slayers settled down, I swear..." she bursts into tears...Sitting down...Hands over her face...

"I'm...I'm...Oh...Will... I'm...So...Sor...Sor...Sorry..." she sobbed...

"But you have to believe...I really did care...And we were gonna get a stone...As soon as they got your information..."

"Oh...William...I was so glad when Wesley called us about you...I came right over, soon as I could..." she continued sobbing between words...

You ok...? she looked up at him...No aftereffects, I mean...

"No prob..." he waved a hand...

None after Ange here...Made sure those Wolfram-Hart types didn't getta chance to bring Spikey back...

"Thanks, Angel..." she beams at him through tears...

"For my lil' soul vamp bro...No prob..." he nods...

"But we did hafa lil' trouble with a bunch who came over tonight, just afta I got Willum home..." he noted...

"But that was justa lil' post-res exercise for Willy here..." he pats William again...

"Walthrop..." William eyes her...Head wobbly...

Huh?...

"My name...Ya said ya wanted ta know my name...It's Walthrop...William...So-hic-ames...Wal-hic-throp..."

Nice to meet ya...

"William Soames Walthrop...It's a nice name, Will..." she beams...

"It was...I kinda drug it through the mud the last century..." he sighs...

No, no...No...She eyes him firmly...Not you William...!...

"Spike was the monster Will...Not you..." she told him...

"Yeah?...You sure didn't seemta think so last year..." he frowns at her...

Oh...Will...Please...Listen...she pleads...Taking a small sip of the beer to clear her throat...

Hmmn...That's pretty good...she notes...A little strong...

Funny, it takes...er, tastes...Familiar...

"It's good brew...Impor from the Old Country..." Angel notes...

Ireland...Eire, we livers there call it...

"Nice..." she takes another sip... "Anyway, Will...I hadda come to see ya...you...when I heard you'd been revived...Resurrected..." she takes a good swig...

"Cause I had to let you know...I did mean what I said..."

"Ya did?.." he stares...

I did...she nods...Blinking a little as she takes another swig...

I luv ya, William...I really luv ya...she smiles at him...Her head swaying a bit now...

Hic...Cuse me...she giggles...Good beer...

Only da best for my-hic-lil' soul bro and my...Angel pauses and then smiles, kindly if drunkenly...

My...lil' Slayer...sis...

She beams at him...Thanka...she nods...Thanka Ang'l...

"So...Canna geta kiss...? From my double-dipper dead guy?..." she grins, wobbling over to William...Who stares up at her...

"Buffy...Oh, Buffy..." he hugs her...Kissing her hair, face...

Willy...Will...OH...she sobs again... "I thought ya were gone forever...Stupid, stupid..." she shakes her head...

"I dint do anything to get ya back..." she hangs her head...But, oh! Will...! she beams...Taking another swig...

"I was gettin the spell from Willow...The one she used on me...I even found out where ya could geta fawn..."

Fawn?...The boys look at each other...Hmmn...

She's been drinkin'...Angel notes solemnly...

Cute little Bambi...she makes a slice across her throat...Grooss...But I was goona do it, Will...I swear...

"Buf...You've had too much..." William attempts to assert boyfriend perogative...

"Im fine...I know my lim...limits..." she insists...Standing up...

See me walka straight line...she staggers...And falls into Will's lap...

"Hiya, honey..." she grins... "Oh...Will!..." she hugs him...

"We gotta tell everybody...Wakem all up!..." she cries... "Wil'iam's live...He's Up!..."

"Yeah..." William seems down as yet...

"Will?..."

He shrugs...Angel rising to fetch more brew...And staggering off...

"Still the same stit...siuta...Situation, Buf...Ima vamp, plus soul...Youra Slayer, plus soul..."

So?...she stares...

"Doesn't mix, girl...We been through this before..."

"It's diff...diff...changed a lot...You gotta soul...You'rea hero...Ma cute lil' blonde hero..." she beams..."First class!..."

You say that...Now...

"When ya had a lil' too much..." he wags a finger...

"I luvya Will!...Lemme prove it!..." she pounds the table...

Angel!...She calls...

Yeah...?

"I luv Will, right!...You'd vouch, right?..."

Yeah...Sure...

See...she eyes Will...

Angel says I luvya...And he oughta...Know...

Well...he sighs...

"I'm sorry about things before, Will...I shoulda helped ya more...Even before ya got the soul..."

The Slayer...she frowns...She's the one...The Bitch...

No heart when I gotta be on the clock...she sighs...

"But now...There's a lotta Slayers...They don' need me..." she smiles...

Well...he sighs...Angel brings more brew...

Maybe so...But ya still...he pauses...

"What?" she stares...

"Ya still don't wanna...Be with me..."

Sure I do!...Right now!...she nods emphatically...

'Cuse us, Angel?...she calls...

Sure...he nods...

No...Will shakes his head...

No?...she pauses in rising and sits..Taking her hand off her blouse buttons...

"No...Buf...I mean...The whole shebang..."

Oh...But Will...I want that too...she nods...

She...Bang...The whole one...she notes...

"And this she bangs a lot..." she giggles...

But comes down a bit, seeing him looking downcast...Oh...Will...

"Dawny won't want me round...Alla time...The other guys..."

"Sure she will..."

Or else...she notes firmly...

"And if the guys say anythin'...Screw 'em..."

"Will...We'll make it work...You'll see..."

You'll be ashameda me...A vamp...A killer for a...He puts his head in his hands again...

No, Will...she shakes her head...You ainta killer...Oh...

Say...she beams...I gotta idea...A great idea!...

"What if I was a vamp...For a lil' bit...Evil demn and all...?"

Just like Spike was...Before you were so brave and gotthe chip anda soul?...

My soul...For me...she beams...

Hmmn...Angel nods at them...

"Yeah and the guys couldn't say anythin against ya then...Cause I'll haf beena vamp too..."

Huh...? he stared...

"Sure...Look, it's easy...We knowhowta get the soul back...Ya just gotta tie me up and take me to Africa...Or curse me and then take me to Africa...Or stake me and Willow'll resur...res...wake me up alive...Or whatever...It's simplac...samp...simpleacity...herself..."

All ya gotta do...Is kill me...A coupla of good bites...Shoot a lil' of ya blood in my mouth...

"Then ya chain me up real good...Sos I don' hurt anabody...Cause a Slayr'll make a real powerful vamp..." she notes solemnly...Real powful, Angel nods... "And you and Ang'l can take me over ta Africa...And I do whatever you did...Or do the spell...or wha'ever...And I'm all back the Salyer...er Slayer agin..."

"And then we'llbe boyfrien and girlfrien?...Just like before?...Only better...The whol' she...band...Cause now I'llha been a vampurer..." Hee, she giggles... Vampar...Undead guy, you know...

"Cause I really wanta be your girl again Will...I mean it...Cuz, God...I really miss the sex, Will..." she moans...

"And I luv ya...Really I do..." she beams at him..."Allda way..."

And I don' wanna be no ici...hic...ice...Icicle no more...

"Ya never were, Buf..." he pats her fondly... "I wus just kinda upset...Hurt, ya know..."

Yep...she nods... "But it'll be all a-ok after ya bite me and shoo' a lil' blood in here..."...she points to her mouth...

"Kinda like that time..." she giggles... "'member Will...?"

In ya crypt?...When I wus inwisble...?

Oh yeah...he nods...That time...Wha great time...

Angel looks a little down...She never did that kinda thing with me...

"So...Will...Les get started...Cause I gotta go home to Dawn tomorrow..."

We can go to Africa and back by tomorrow, right?...she stares at the boys...Who nod solemnly...

Sure...Think so...They nod...

"Ok...Then...Will..." she pulls her blouse back to reveal her neck...He staggers over...

"Sink 'em right there..." she pats a spot...

"Don' wanna hurtcha honey?..." he hesitates...

Eh...I been ded twice...she pats him...Go ahead...

"I luv ya and dis is for us...Go on...It'll only be for a lil' while...And then...Nobody'll say nuthin' about us...Cause we'll both have been vamps..."

Sounds real good to me...Angel chimes in...And we can keep Buf from hurtin' people...

See...she beams at Will...Who considers...

Well...Me and Angel did it...And cam' through jest fine...After a while...And Buf's the...er, A...Slayer...

"I wanna see the Heart o' my Darkness...Like you did, Wil'am..." Buffy notes solemnly...William and Angel staring...

Heh...Think I nefer open a book...she thinks...

"Maybe...If you're chained up real good...And if it don't hurt ya too much..." William hesitates...

Oh...Chains...she looks round...

"I'll get em..." Angel calls...

May as well do ya blood furst...she looks at William...That's da icky part for me...

Ummn...

At her request, Angel politely left them alone after returning with the chains and helping William secure them...More or less...

A priate thin' ya know...she'd explained to him...He'd nodded...solemnly...Staggering out to the outer hall...Thanka...she called...He paused...Swaying...As Will gathered his nerve...

"Guess the cookies are baked, now...huh...?...At least...da heart-shaped ones?..."

Yeah...she smiled...The heart-shaped onesa dun...And there's a couple for ya, too...

Eeh...She grimaces at the taste of the blood in her mouth...Will looking ashamed...Maybe dis aina good...But she swallows it down...And stretches her neck again for him...Smiling up at his face...

William trembles a moment...Buf?...Ya don' hafta...Lets not do...

She looks at him...Swaying a little...Slurring the words...

But there is total sobriety in her eyes...

"Itsthe last thing between us Wil'am...I wanna knock it down...Right down...Suf'r what you suff'red..."

You'll safme...Ib'lieve in ya...Always...Ang'l help ya...

"Buf...I cana...No..." he wobbly starts to move from her...

She pulls him down to her...Wil'am...!

"Do it, now!...For us!...Oh...My...Love!..."

OW!...she howled...

Oh...He pulled away...Sorry, sorry...

"S'ok...s'ok..." she pulled him back... "Im ok...Jest hurta lil' bit...Go on, honey..."

Part II...

Angel eyes William...William eyes him...

Both stare at Buffy, dead in her chair, chained...A measure of sobriety having returned owing to the funereal atmosphere...

Will sighs, his head on the table... "Dis wasa bad, bad idea..." he moans...

Nah...Angel rises from his chair, patting him... "It wus wha she wanted..."

And we'll watch her...It'll all turn out...

O...kee...Dokey...

"No..." Will shakes his head... "It wus a dumb idea...Crazy...Oh..." he rises and staggers over to his poor lil' dead Buffy...

"My poor lil' Buffy girl...Forgiv' me..." cradling her in his arms...

Damn...He strokes her hair... "Damn...How coulda guy be so stooopid...?"

"It'll be o...k..." Angel comes over as well, standing over them... "You wusan been stoop..."

"I mean you, ya big...Lummox..." Will glares up... "You said dis wus a great idea..."

And now...My poor lil' Slayer girl's dead...Oh...He buries his face in her hair...

"Wus her idea...Not mine..." Angel frowns down...Wobbling...He stumbles to a chair...

Her idea...He repeats...

"And she'll be back...Soon..." he eyes the corpse in Will's arms...

So ya better leave her be and tighten up dem chains...

A ghostly figure appears...Buffy...Looking a bit hung-over...

"Guys...?..." she eyes them...Hey, Will...

"Oh..." William sighs, looking up... "Buf...I'm sor'...Sor'..."

No, no...It was da...ummn...the right thing to do Will...I'm not sorry you did it...

"It had to be done...I had to go through this...So we can be together...With nothing between us..." she notes, nodding...

And Heaven is a nice place to wait while you fellas take care of Anne...

Anne...? they look at her...

"My counta..." ummn, she focuses...That was strong stuff... "Counterpart...The demon..." she eyes her body... " That's about to come...Soon..."

Anyway...I'm fine for now...Heaven's nice this time of year...

"Oh, yeah?...How's it..." Angel asks...

Real nice...But guys...I don't have much time...And I won't be able to help you out much...

"And God knows, you two are gonna need help with her...Especially the way you are now..."

"You sure it wasda right thing...?" William looks at her sorrowfully...

Absolut'ly...Sorry, that was powerful stuff...Absolutely, honey...she nods...Don't feel bad...

"But don't let her get the best of you...Keep her locked up, if you possibly can...She'll be dangerous, even with that stuff in her...She's loves you too Will..." she pauses, smiling wanly... "Can't help it, I guess...But she'll kill you and go for Spike's return if she has to to get what she wants..."

Fellas...Buffy eyes them sternly... "She's probably the worst vampire you boys will ever encounter..." A slight touch of unmistakable pride... "And if she gets her way...You guys, Angel's buddies, our old gang...The whole world's in big trouble..."

"Thank God, she's plastered..." Buffy's spirit notes...

But I believe in you, William...You'll finish the job right and we'll be together...As we were meant to be...

"Really?..." William stares...

Yeah...she nods...Everybody I meet up here says so...They can't understand why we took so long...

"And Will, I found out a bunch of things about our past...See, back in 1880...Ooops, time's running short...Tell you later..."

"I'll try to see you again...but maybe it would help if you or Willow or somebody could do a seance next time you need to reach me...Until ya...er you...Bring me back, Will..."

She fades...Be careful, fellas...Love ya, William...She blows a kiss... "And lay off the brew...It's cursed..."

Cursed...? Angel stares...It sure cost enough...Damn those ancient Irish monastic breweries...

"Oh!...Will, I met your mother!...She's so nice...I think she likes me..." Buffy fades away...

"Course she likes ya..." William calls... Thanks, Ma...he calls to the air...Swaying...

She luvs me...Her soul...said so...he happily notes...

Yep...Angel nods...Solemnly...Heard it right here...

Well...? he eyes Angel...

"Sounds ta me...Ya dun the right thing, Will..." he nods... "And Buf's soul says so...Heard it right...Hic...Here..."

Yeah...But...William sighs...Eyeing the body...

"Can't we tie 'er up a lil' bettah...? You heard wha Buf said...Worse vamp ever..." A faint note of pride in there, his girl after all...Natch...

Hmmn...Angel ponders...Buffy's body suddenly twitches...

Whoa...She's on'r way...he points...

"Hey...I gotta idea...We gotta contan...contaima...A cage...In the other room..."

The Wufram and Hart guys used it for new demmns...Til they learn'd who wus boss..."

"Great...Lets putt'r in...She'll be all safe and snub...snug..."

Y...ep...Angel nods... Les putt'r in...Saf'n snug...Ummn...?

"Then what...?" he asks...

"Then we say hi to Anne and take'r to Africa...Or we call Willow to doda resurc...revive thing..."

And haf the curse reddy jest in case...

Hmmn...Say...Angel has a flash...

"Ya wan'r human or vamp with soul?...Cause the Africa thing didn' send ya back uman...Right?..."

Oh, yeah...Will nods...Right...

"I think she'd wanta be uman...Shoulda thoughta ask her soul...Damn..."

O...K...Then we call Willow...Les' ya try the one they got ina vault here...The one dey used on Dara...Darla...

"A great girl...Soul...by da way..." he smiles fondly...Good ole Darl'...Muthda of my child...

Good thinkin' ole pal...Will pats his vamp soul brother...

"And faster than goin' to Africa...'Cause she did wanna be back to go home to Dawny tomorrow..."

Ya got Wil...ow's number?...he asks..."Cause I don' think you're in any shap' fora spell..."

Sure...Som'where...Les putt'r her in first...Angel suggests...

Good thinkin'...Will pats him again...

"Anne...Thatsa luvely name...Almost nice as Buffy..." he notes as they lift Buffy's corpse...

Y...ep...Angel nods...

"Luvely..."

Part III...

Play

"I luvs ya...Truly...Truly, dear...Life wid its pass...ions...Life wid its...Tears...When...sumthin' sumthin'...And lif is thro'...I luvs ya truly...TRULY...(Angel joins William at the last...) DEAR!..."

William serenades his dead lady love as she lays in the Wolfram-Hart containment cell...Takin' her time, Anne is...he notes to Angel, siting nearby...

Y...ep...Angel agrees...Solemnly...

"Bet ya she's already here...Tryin' to fool wid our heads..." William eyes her...

Anne...he hisses...Anne?...

"Oh..." he turns to Ang'l... "Look at her pretty blous'...I got blood all o'r her pretty white blous'..." he tears up, swaying as he stands...

"Ima kill'r...A mad dog...!...They oughta tak' me out an' jest stak' me...Stak' me right now!..." he trembles, sobs beginning to come...

"Wheresa stake?..." he looks round... "Ima gonna go find'r in Hea...Ven..."

If dey leta mad dog kill'r in...He starts to stumble round, looking for a stake...

"No..." Angel rises...Good vamp soul brother that he is...His lil' vamp soul brother and vampiral grandson clearly in need of a steadying hand...Even from a swaying body...

"Ya gotta stop dis, Wil'am...Ya herd her soul...She's hap..py ya did it...I tellya...It's gonna work out jest fin'..." he tries to pat the staggering William...

"Outa my way!...the mad dog kill'r...The vulgar'an Spike...Mus' die!...For 'is crimes!..." he pushes Angel away...

Wheresa stake...Ah, ha!...He spies a wood crate panel...

No!...Angel races over... "We gotta see dis thro...My lil' Slayer sis is countin' on ya, Will..."

Will shoves him away...Angel whangs against the opposite wall, stunned...

"Death! To da vulgar'an...Sike...!" William calls...Raising a torn piece of wood...

An appropriate poem is clearly called for...he eyes his beloved...

"...My hart expands...Tis grown...A bulg..e...in it...Inspir' by..." he shakes his head sadly at Buffy's body...

"Your beauty...Efful..."

No!...Anne hops up... "Wil'am!...Don'!...Im ok...! Ok! See!...Ang'l!..." she calls desperately, rattling the cage door...

William halts, staring at her...

Angel pulls himself up, racing...Best as he can...Over to William...

"Stop'im Ang'l!...Im ok, Will...Sorry I scared ya...!" Anne cries... "Don' do it...! Ok?..."

Oh, yea...she looks round the cage...Gotta try and get em to lemme out...she thinks...

"Im fin'...My har' jest restarted...Like when Xanda saved me...? Ya know bout dat...?"

Im Buffy...And Im a-ok...

"Jest a lil' unda dar weada...Hic..." she sways, looking at them both...

So don' kil yaself?...Please?...

"And...Ya can lemme out now...Guess it didn' wok..."

William and Angel eye each other...Will lowering his improvised stake...

"Is it Buffy?..." Will looks at Angel...Who trains his experienced, judicious eye on her...

Hmmn...

Nope...Angel shakes his head...

The demon brow ridges and the yellow eyes being a dead giveaway...

"Hello, Anne..." he waves...

"It...Is Anne..." he pronounces to William...Who stares...

Damn...Dah Ang'l is clev'r...she thinks...Gotta use all my wiles...

She rubs her chin...Oh...Demon-face...she hastily reverts...

"Ang'l?...How ya thin' Im Anne...? Wil'am...Its me...Ya Buffy..."

Lemme out...Please...she pleads...

"I gotta go...Bad..."

C'mon guys...A very winsome Buffy look...

They eye each other...Hmmn...Well...

She is a crafty one...

But...She is dealing with the combined forces of Angel and William the Bloody, redeemed human-souled vampires and new legal/investigative firm partners...Soon to start their mutual law degrees...Dedicated to the protection of Humanity...And, of course...Their beloved Buffy...

"There's a toilet in the backada cell..." Angel eyes her...She looks back...Damn...

She thinks fast...As befitting the new Queen of the Damned...

"Ya 'pect to me to use that...? Geesch...Wil'am?" she turns to him in offended outrage... "Demons used that, ri'...? C'mon honey, letya Buffy girl out..."

"C'mon...Wil'am!...Aw..." she sighs...Ok...

"Well...Gimme a lil' pria'cy...Ok?...Geesch..."

They consider the matter...Well...Should be ok for a mo or two...

"Wil'am can stay...Wid' me...If he wants ta..." she smiles at him...

The boys exchange looks... "She's tryin' Divid' an' conka..." Ang'l hisses...

Divid' an' conka'...Will nods...Classic strategy...

A...Crafty one...No doubt 'bout it...

"Wha' we do...? She proba' does gotta go..." Will whispers as she looks hopefully at the conferring law/investigative firm partners...

And a Victorian-born gentleman like Walthrop simply can't let a lady suffer...Even the likely fiendish vampire counterpart of his true love...

Angel crafts a shrewd countermove...

"We'll go out ina hall...But...We'll listen real...Careful..."

O...K...William nods...

"We'r gonna go ina hall...But we'll be listen'...For anythin'...So...Don' you try it..." he turns to Anne...

Anythin' I mean...

"Wil'am..." she looks down... "Ya thin' Im lyin'?...Honey...Me?...Ya lil' Slayer?...Geesh..."

I tol' ya...My hart resta...rest...Got goin' again...Like wid Xanda...Only no CPuR...she sways...

Soul's ri' here...she taps her chest...No demmn...

Will looks at Angel...?

"She's lyin'..." the new senior partner pronounces firmly... "We sawya Anne...Ya cana fool us..."

Damn...But Anne is not a girl to say die easily...Being Buffy's dark side and all...

"Will...Ya say ya don' bel've me...? Oh..." she tears a bit...

"Ya don' luv me no more...That was dis is alla bout..." she shakes her head...

"Ya hate me...Both aya..."

Oh...She begins sobbing...

Will wavers...Buf...Oh...Honey...No...

"Doncha cry...Please..." he makes a move...Anne watching out of the corner of her sobbing eyes...

Angel is resolute, however...And sternly reminds his new junior partner of their duty...Holding him back gently...But, albeit unsteadily...Firmly...

"No...Will...She aint Buffy...We cana let'r fool us...'member wha Buffy's soul said..." he pulls his poor love-lorn little vamp soul brother back...

Soul?...They talked ta Buf's soul...? Damn...Anne sighs...

"Thawas me...Before I got sucked back in here...Buffy's soul..." she quickly counters...

Oh...Yeah...? Angel folds his arms...Waving to William...It'll be ok...

"Wha didcha say?..."

Ummn...

"I don' ramemb'r..." she gives it a try... "But it was...me...Hic..."

Hmmn...Maybe...

"Ya can test me...Will, go geta cross...Or jest put those sticks dere togetda..." she points...

"Nope..." Angel shakes his head... "Buf aint that religious...Ya gotta beli've it for it ta work...She's tryin' ta fool us, Will..."

Hol' wa'...? Will suggests...

Oh-oh...Anne blinks at that...Ouch...

Besides...She really does have to go...That demon brew moves fast...

"Ah...Jest go ahead and go..." she waves a hand... "I can' wait no more..."

"Ya shoulda trusted me...Wil'am..." she tells him as he and Angel take their brief leave...Giving him a sincere, if bleary look...

She is a crafty one...Angel shakes his head...We are gonna have some trouble here...

Part IV...

Meanwhile, in the misty reaches of Heaven...

Buffy's disembodied soul is preparing for a quest...In search of answers...

And naturally, as part of that preparation...She's paying a visit to Mom...Something more easily accomplished this time around in the afterlife...Knowing the ropes a little better...

To her relief, Joyce is not terribly put out by her romantic choice...

Angel always seemed to lack a certain something with regards to commitment...Though Riley was very nice...

Whereas, especially with Joyce being in possession now of crucial info regarding his and Buffy's past, William always had a certain stick-to-itive quality in romance that appealed...Not even considering his excellent, even remarkable in pre-chip days, house manners...

However, her daughter's having more or less committed an interesting variation on suicide is not exactly sitting well...And she would have preferred Will to have shown a little more good sense...

"I had to do this, Mom..." Buffy's billowing, occasionally forming, then dissipating face sighs out into the white void...

Not just for William and me...I realize that now...

Joyce's head briefly appears...Shaking a bit...

She'd expected a bit more from her real...And eldest daughter...

"Buffy...I can understand you're wanting to undergo what William's been through, hopefully very briefly...In a limited...Very limited fashion..."

But you've had him kill you...And let a fiend take your body...

"My own fiend, Mom...It's me...She's a part of me..."

Yeah...And I oughta know...Joyce frowns back...

"Angel and Will can deal with Anne..." Joyce's face takes form, rolling eyes... "Well...The other guys will help them...And when they've seen what she..." the spirit took grinning, wincing form for a few seconds, then dissipated...

What I...Am capable of...They may be able to understand and see why I trust William...Why I'm willing to be with him, despite Spike and Spike's past...

"And you're the one who told me about Cicely...Showed me the scenes of her...My...life...in 1880..."

"And that's why I say...I do understand...in a limited fashion...Why you want to help him and understand him..."

Yeah, well...Buffy's face holds form a few seconds...When you kill the man you love...Worse than kill...

"Drusilla killed William, Buffy..." Joyce insists sternly...

"I sent for Halfreck...I had her take my place...I told her the words that drove Will away..."

"You wanted to save him, Buffy...And you reincarnated to save him...The people who should have been helping you...And betrayed you both were the ones you should blame..."

I do...Buffy notes quietly...But as the chief ones are in Hell already...My old Watcher, his minions, Halfreck...

"Guess I need someone to blame...For now, I'll do..."

Buffy...Joyce's frowning face takes form...

"But this is about more than saving William..." Buffy pauses...Her face holds form for a moment, beaming... "After all...He's already saved himself..."

With your help...Joyce sternly notes...

"Mom...I'm the Slayer...Or was The Slayer...Until I became just...A Slayer...One among many...And now that I have a little leisure...I have questions to answer..."

William's soul hung round Spike, never letting go...Believing in me somehow, that I'd come for him, and tell him...That it was all a mistake...That I loved him...And that there was a reason...

"He would've been wiser to let go and find you in Heaven, honey..." Joyce notes...

Yeah, well...He didn't wanta take the chance...A free thinker type...He didn't know if there was a Heaven...

"But, leaving Will aside...The question is...How many others...How many others are like my Will, souls still around, trapped maybe...Looking for help..."

"You give them help, sweetie...You free them...If and when they're still around..."

Maybe...But ...

"Mom...For years I've wanted more than Slaying...It's not enough to just kill 'em...Set them free if you like...I want to help them...At least try to do what I can, when it's possible...But it's hard...Giles always..."

"Giles was right...Buffy, Slayers who are too compassionate...Who try to help where the only help possible is to free these...People...Die...Or worse..."

"Or worse..." Buffy pauses...

The soul is Immortal...We are Immortal, Mom...So, it's not death that we have to worry about...

And in fact, I've really saved no one...No the way it could really count...

"It's how we live...Whether...God...Whether we're living lives that won't...Lead to the warmer afterlife climes..."

"You know..." she shakes her misty head... "Of all the vamps, demons, and people I know...Human souls, I mean...The ones who were most in danger...Really facing the real horror...Were Warren Mears, Andrew, Jonathan, Amy...Dr. Walsh, Faith...And I guess, Mayor Wilkens...Willow...And William and Angel..."

Their souls' destruction...or at least, Eternal confinement...Away from all mankind...Forever in prisons they've constructed...

Terrifying thing, that Angel and Will were in danger because their souls had been restored...Buffy sighs...If they'd given into despair...Surrendered to evil...

"But they didn't..." Joyce points out...Thanks in no small part to you...So you have saved people, Buffy, the way it really counts...And God knows...It/she/he really does...That your Slayer work kept others from falling into despair...That someone cared and cares enough to free them...

"And you helped Jonathan, Andrew, and Faith, Buffy...Jonathan and Andrew found redemption through helping you...Faith through your example...If she makes it..."

Robin Wood'll see to that...Buffy's face reappears ...Grinning...

A slight sigh...Mom?...Buffy calls...

"Cute guy that principal...Why'd I have to go and die before he showed up..." Joyce's smiling voice...

Well...I gave it a try in your absence...Buffy notes...Consider me your stand-in...

"Pretty lousy job of standing-in, I'd say..." Joyce's voice, a faint laugh...

"Mom...I'm married after all..." Buffy takes on a mock shocked tone...

What would my Will have done?...

"Seriously, Mom...I have to learn more about what really happens to these people...See how I could...Maybe...Make an effort to help them when it's possible...Especially now, when the Hellmouth is down and the world has zillions of Slayers..."

Buffy the Vampire/Demon Redeemer...she chuckles...Well, I always like being the One and Only, much as I say I hate it...

"And Will would help me...Hell, he'll have to be dragged away from my side when he hears what a crazy career idea I've got in my head..."

It won't always work out, I know...But William and I saved him...Angel saved himself with a little support...There must be others who can be saved as well...And I want to find out how to tell who they are and how I can help them...However much harder it may be than Slaying ever was...

"Even if all some of them need is a short piece of wood through their chest...And a kind word at the end..."

"And experiencing Anne...In your body...Is part of the way you hope to understand?..." Joyce sighs...

Can't know em...Really...Till you've walked a mile in their shoes... Buffy chuckles...

"And being safe in Heaven, isn't gonna cut it...I hafta see it...The void...Limbo...And see...What the ones who get trapped see...Watch my demon, helpless...Feeling the rages and darkness in her...That's really just a part of me..."

And if Anne kills...People you love...Family..? Joyce hesitates...

"William won't let that happen...But then I'll have seen it all...What Angel and William and all those others have seen...And I'll never..." she pauses...

I'll never again treat these people as weak for letting their demons run the show...Because I'll know...completely...How impossible it is to hold the darkness back when the soul is helpless...

"Even for Buffy..."the Law"..." she eyes Joyce ruefully...Sweetheart...Joyce sighs...

"Buffy...My dear child..." a voice calls...

Are you...Ready...?

"Buffy?..." Joyce calls to her...

"I'll see ya again Mom...I love ya...Always..."

Will and I will find a way to give you grandkids...I promise...

"Good luck...Daughter..." Joyce's face formed a last time, nodding... "I am so proud of you...Take care of her, Mrs. Walthrop..."

"She'll be fine...Mrs. Summers...And thank you...Thank you for raising her so very well...Each time...Mr. Addams..."

Joyce's face takes on a new form...Cicely's father, Buffy knew...My father...She thought...

"Cicely...Forgive me, my dear girl...My many failures...And remember me to your William..."

He turned out rather well, after all...

"I will, Father...I love you...Thanks for being such a good mom this last time..." she beams at him...As his face smiles back fading...

"Shall we go...Cicely...?" Mrs. Walthrop calls...

"I'm ready..."

Part V...

Back in LA, Earth...

Angel has wisely decided to get things moving along...And, while not wanting to hurt Will's feelings, realizes, courtesy his longer existence, his years of fighting some of the world's most fiendish minions of Evil...And his own period as Buffy's number one...That William is the more likely of the partners to fall prey to any efforts on Anne's part to appeal to emotion and sentiment...

"Bes' ya go and get Willow on da phone..." he notes to Will...

S'long as we out here anyway...Get da ball...Roilin'...

Who nods...However...One slight problem...Besides having no memory of what her number is...

"Wha' I sa t'her?...Can' say I kil' Buf and mad' her a vamp...Wil'ow f'ay me...And she's good at dat...First class..."

Hmmn...Very likely, Angel nods...Solemnly... "Certain I'd kil' ya if ya called me wida stor' lik dat..."

'Xactly...Will agrees... "Sh'd be breat'ng fir'...Good ol' Red...Never'd let me geta way wid it..."

Hmmn...Angel ponders...Call Wes, perhaps...? Let him explain the situation in proper terms...

Nah...He'd be all Burrtish...(Not mea' ta offend and nefer lettin' histor' crap up a friendship but hey, gud Eire guy here...he thinks...Hmmn...He eyes the Limey blonde sob wha stole his girl...Descendant of those wha stole his cuntry...But hey, vamp-resouled brotherhood in suff'rn outweighs all other ties...An' he's a good'un, no doubt bout it...An', most of all...It's wha ma lil' Slayer sista wants...)

Well, in any case...Not quite the best thing for it...

Hmmn...

"Tel'r...Buf wan's her to come...She' been cussed a' is turnin' inta vamp...So she gotta come...Soon"...

That'll get her here, for sure...

A crash from inside Anne's cell's room...

Hmmn...Angel eyes his partner...She's a crafty one...

"Go an' make the quall...I'll watch Anne..." he notes...

While Walthrop places his crucial call...Angel watches over Anne in her cell...

"C'monnnn...Ang'l..." Anne gives an attempt at a seductive look...

Urp...Sorry...

"Ya still like me, dontcha...Wellllll...? huh..." she looks at him...

Whoa...She's using the ole...Smold'ring eyes...Mmmn...he frowns...Now...Dang'rous vamp lady here, boy...Watchit...he thinks...

"Ya know ya do...So...C'mon...I'll be nice to ya..." she smiles...He eyes her carefully...Not moving...

"C'mon!..."she frowns, rattling the cage door..."I'll giva the screwing of ya Unlife...!...Geto' here...And tak' these chains off!...Now!..."

No...pe...he shakes his head... "I aint Angelus, lady...he notes...And I didna become head of a LA law firm cause Im stoo...pid..."

"Ya damned pointy haired...Gay!...Basta...!" she rages...Demon-faced...

She reverts, curious in spite of her hideous anger...Head of a...?

"Ang'l?...Ya gota law degree...? When's ya geta law degree...?...Don' it taka long time...?"

"No...pe...Don' nee' one cause Ima head honcho...But Im gettin' one...Night scho'..."

"Thatsa nice, Ang'l...Conn'r be proud...Good luck if I don' destroy ya..." she smiles rather kindly...

Hmmn...Oh, yea... she rattles the door again..."Lea' me outa here, ya damned Mick punk!...Ya trait'r to ya own kind!...Cuz Ima gonna rip Conn'r's head off if ya don'!...Maybe even if ya do..."

Urrrrp...Cuse me...she blushes a little...

"Wher's my honey...? Wher's my lil' Wil'am?...He'll lemme out...Wher's he gon' at?..."

"He's makin'...Arra...Arrag...He's callin' Willow..."

Willow...?...Whoops...Iknoo wha that means...she thinks...

Wai' a min...Willow?...That lil' red-hea'd wida b...hic...-itch...

"Why's he callin' her?...Is he datin' her...? His furst night bac'...? Tha' two-timin' lil' wica!...Lemme out!...Lemme out, Ang'l!...Aw...Don' let'r tak' my Willum awa...Oh..." she tears up ...

"She's gonna steal'im awa...He lik'sa...And she wus alwa sayin' he wus so nice tha time he come ta kill her... "So 'Uman, Buf..."she alwa sayin'...Oooh "lets no' killum Buf...He's sooooo uman..." Yeah...dat witcha' bitch...Oh...Ang'l...Ya gotta lemme out...Don' let'r takim awa..." she pleads...

"Willow ain' gonna take him away..." Angel kindly explains... "She just gonna kill ya...and bring Buffy back..."

Oh...

"Ya sure...She ain' lookin' to takim...?"

No way...Angel nods emphatically...

"Good...Thankya Angel..." she smiles back...

Whoa...Kil' me!...

"Lemme out...LEMME OUT!..." she smashes at the cage door...

Noooope...Angel shakes his head...

"Damn pointy-ha'r...lil'...bloody studpy fa' jacass...!" she tries rocking the cell...

Fa'...? he stares at her...Fa'?...As in...?

Eehew...Got him right in the sensitive spot...he winces...Unless...

"Wha' ya call me...?" he asks her hopefully...Maybe it was the sexual orientation thing she meant...

But Anne knows her victims...

"Fa'...Lika beech' whal'..." she smirks... "Wha' ya been doin' over here in da city...? Eatin' steada killin'...?" she blows out her cheeks... "Dis' you..."

Fa' slob...she sneers...

That hurt...she notes contentedly...Eyeing his face...

"No wonda I didn' taka back...Hmph..." she tries to thumb her nose, missing...

Embarassin' ta be sin wida fa' slob lik' ya...My Willy...He don' go and get all fa' slob...Lik' ya...

"Not my Willum..." she smiles...

Angel tries Unmanfully to repress the urge to take a quick look at his waistline...She jest tryin' to gemme ril'd up...His gaze drops...Don' seem bad...No worse anywa'...

Best perhaps to take Buffy's soul's advice and lay off that imported, cursed brew though...

Heh...heh...heh...Anne gloats in her first evil triumph, watching him...

Soon to be followed by many more...No doubt...

Part VI...

"Excuse me..." Kennedy gives Ira Rosenberg a winningly innocent smile as she vacates the Rosenbergs' bathroom in their temporary rental...Awaiting settlement of insurance claims for the Great Sunnydale Earthquake of May 2003...home in Crestwood...Not far from the Crater, now in process of becoming a major tourist attraction...

Yeah...Ira stares at his daughter's "friend"...

"No problem..."

And no questions...At the insistence of a Sheila Rosenberg, overjoyed to have her Willow back home safe and sound...Under any conditions...

"Hey, dad..." Willow deftly slips in past him before he can turn back to enter...

"Willow!..." Sheila calls from the kitchen...

Bathroom!...Ira calls back...

Cell!...Willow calls from inside... "Just tell 'em to call my cell!..."

Lucky she's not in a cell...Ira thinks...God knows what she was up to last coupla years with that crazy Summers girl...

Why did we ever agree to letting her live away from home while she was at UCal-Sunnydale?...

Sheila emerges from the kitchen...A frown...

Umm?...Ira looks at her...She waves a hand...

"Willow...I think you better speak to this...Gentleman...On the house phone..." she calls...

I don't think he could manage a cell phone call...A dark look...

A loud sigh...Ok...

Kennedy appears at their bedroom door...Her brightest smile as she looks to see what's up...

Sheila avoiding a look at her daughter's latest "friend"...She has learned to deal, but there are limits to how much she can stuff into her memory hole...Seeing Kennedy as little as possible helps...

"Who is it?..." Willow emerges...Toweling her hair...

Repressing, for the parents' sake, the urge to paste one on her girl...Laater...she winks at Kennedy...

"Someone...A bit...Out of sorts...Named William?..." Sheila gives a sour look...

On the other hand...Hmmn...she ponders, eyeing the puzzled Willow...No, not this one...God, he sounded like he'd been on an all night bender...

William?...Ira thinks, somewhat hopefully...Eyeing the beaming Kennedy...

"Oh!..." Willow suddenly realizes...William!...She looks at Kennedy...Who likewise makes the connection...William!...

"He made it!...He made it!...Mom, it's William!..." she cries, overjoyed...Hopping over to Kennedy, who is equally excited, after spinning Ira round...

Hurray for William...Sheila notes dryly...

"Who the heck?...Wait...Is he that...Blonde guy?...Buffy's old boyfriend with the cemetery job...?" she looks at Ira who's happily, if cluelessly attempting to join in the celebration...William!...

"Yeah!..." Willow nods vigorously... "He made it! He's back!...I knew he could do it!...He...Ummn..."

He left for a while...she calms, realizing the details of where William is back from are a little too much for the senior Rosenbergs...

And now he's back...she grins...

Oh...Sheila stares...He's back...From...?

Ummn...Willow has a brief mental freeze...The overwhelming news is just too much...

"England..." Kennedy helpfully puts in...Another beaming smile...

"That's nice...Why didn't you think he could come back from England...?" Sheila eyes Willow...Who darts a thanks glance to her girl...

Ummn...

"Visa problem..." Kennedy quickly covers...

Yeah...Willow nods...

"Those can be tough..." Ira nods in turn...

"Buffy was so heartbroken when he left, Mom..." Willow explains... "She raced off to LA to meet...Ummn...His plane...The moment her friend Angel's friend Wes called us yesterday about this..."

She's gotta be so glad...she grins, eyeing Kennedy who nods...

"And he's our friend, too...He really helped us out when the Big One hit last year..." Willow solemnly tells Sheila...

"We all might have died if he hadn't helped us out..." Kennedy chimes in...

Really?...Sheila eyes a nodding Willow...Really, Ma...Great, great guy...

"That's nice to hear...Though, Willow...I gotta tell you...The boy's been drinking..." she frowns..."I could barely understand him..."

So...Buffy's not...? she thinks...I suppose I owe poor Joyce an apology for all my cursing the poor thing...If she's really not the one who got Willow involved in... "alternative lifestyles..."

"Well...It's only understandable he'd be a little disoriented...Cause, after we pulled Buffy up..." Willow pauses with a gulp...Kennedy frowning...Willow...

Ummn...After... "After he thought Buffy was lost in the Big One...And we pulled her up out of the hole..." Willow hastily reconstructs a suitable series of events... "He nearly went to pieces...Went home to England...To...Ummn...His uncle...You know, Mr. Giles?...(Kennedy stares...Blinking...) And was kinda...Outta it for a while...You know, Dad..." she turns to Ira, appealing to her therapist dad's expertise...

Oh, sure...Musta been a great trauma...he nods...

"And I'm sure he...Well, knowing he'd be seeing Buf again after all this time and all..." Willow smiles at Sheila...

"He had to get drunk...To see Buffy Summers again...?" Sheila glares...

Not all that surprising actually, she thinks...

Well..Plus...He gets airsick...Kennedy helpfully throws in her two cents'...

"Yeah...He probably had to scarf down a ton of pills to keep from losing it on the plane..." Willow nods hastily... "I'm sure he's ok, Mom...I'll go talk to him..." she hurries for the kitchen phone...

Hey, Will!...they hear as she carries the phone over to the side porch door and goes out, closing the door carefully...

"Great news..." Kennedy innocently beams at the sourly frowning Sheila and the rather innocently pleased...Yeah, great...Ira...

What!...They hear from the porch, through the closed door...

The house trembling slightly...

Oh-oh...Kennedy thinks...

"Great news..." she repeats, beaming at the Rosenbergs...Not another of those aftershocks, Ira sighs...

"Great, great news..."

Part VII...

LA, early Sunday morning...

Back at the former Wolfram-Hart building, this bright Sunday morning found those intrepid human-souled vampiral guardians of Humanity, Angel of LA and William the Bloody confronting perhaps their most formidable opponent...The fiendish Anne, demonic counterpart of their beloved Slayer...Raised up in her body under the unusual circumstance of Buffy's voluntary choice and with the crucial help of her own dear William, resurrected only the night before himself in his old vamp body by a newly perfected spell of the ever-resourceful...If currently somewhat resource-deprived ...remnants of Hell's once-favored legal team...Their desperate effort to make some attempt to redress the critically-shifted balance following the catastrophic defeat of the First Evil at the Sunnydale Hellmouth by reviving the evil Spike a failure due to a mysterious forewarning which had led to Angel's timely intervention...Armed with a demon blocking spell hastily provided over phone by Willow, he'd prevented Spike's return, leaving William's redeemed human soul firmly in the saddle...Albeit a trifle depressed to find himself both once more in a vampire's body and with no Miss Summers at his side, eagerly awaiting his return from the beyond...

Having accepted his benefactor's (?...Well, going the Evil route again would've been rather a bore...he'd noted) generous offer to join him in his latest venture in the war of Light against Dark...symbolically speaking, of course...given the daylight problem and all...William with Angel had settled down in the new digs of Angel's team to review the situation, evaluate the threat, consider who their mysterious forewarner might have been...and quaff a few bottles of Angel's finest imported Irish ale...The return of a prodigal grandson to existence and virtue being clearly a cause for celebration...

Until a rather pathetic counterstrike by two rather unusually loyal demon agents of the former tenants had briefly interrupted the festivities...But unbeknownst to the vamp boys, before the two agents had been detected and driven off, they'd had time to complete their true mission...A portion of Wolfram-Hart's grand scheme in using Spike...That portion being to replace Angel's vintage import with a powerful demon brew that would render him far too plastered to oppose the famed junior prince of Evil when (sadly, and if ) he attacked...

Though the grand scheme had failed...The lesser mission had resulted in a brew-impaired Angel's and William's acquiescence in the later-arriving but all too soon equally smashed Buffy's decision to voyage into that country which even she had never seen...The Heart of her demonic counterpart's Darkness...Both for love, albeit somewhat drunkenly if sincerely stated, of her William...And for her own desire to seek a new path in her fight against the Dark...

While her soul journeyed to experience that which the souls of her victims suffered, the task for her beloved Will and her dear ex- being to prevent perhaps the most dangerous vampire ever created from wreaking havoc and to arrange for her soul's restoration...A piece of cake, she'd felt, at least in her inebriated state, given how easy soul restoration seemed to have become by now...

William having been sent to contact Willow, Angel watches over Anne...Having correctly judged, despite his utterly wasted condition, that even plastered, Anne would cleverly attempt to exploit poor William's devotion...She was a crafty one, he'd realized from the start...And had just confirmed to his slight embarrassment...Anne having made swift use of her Buffy memories to strike him at his most vulnerable point...

Ye ole waistline...

Will however has run into a slight snag in his critical mission...In contacting Willow to alert her to Buffy's "change of lifestyle" and request immediate assistance he'd quickly forgotten the cover story Angel had suggested, which avoided naming him as the instrument of Buf's transformation...

"Tell her Buf wus cus and's changin' to a vamp...That'd bring her..."

Both he and Angel feeling it a little much to expect Willow to believe that Buffy had requested transformation in order to prove her love...Far more likely she'd assume Spike had returned and was gloating over a triumph...Leading her to strike blindly and perhaps put a abrupt end to the latest twist in Buffy's romantic life...

But his guilt over going along with this "bad, bad ida..." had briefly overwhelmed him on hearing Willow's sweet, delighted voice...So overjoyed he'd found his way back and thwarted Wolfram-Hart...That he'd spilled the beans...

"I bit ma poor lil' Buf...Ima mad dog kill're Willa...Mad dog kill'r...Buf, she's Annie the vampur now...oh ma poor lil' Buf...Oh Willa...I..."

What!...and a minor earthquake being Willow's natural response...

Willa?...William looked at the phone...

Red?...Hmmn...Line dead...And rather...Hot...

Indeed...Lucky for Will, Wolfram-Hart had discovered a way to jump the brief human stage that had characterized Darla's resurrection...Had he been human, the 100,000 volt charge Willow's burst of rage had sent up the line would surely have killed him...Even given the reduction in voltage to 1000 at his end of the line, thanks to California's capable system of transformers...

He returns to the room where Anne, locked in the most demon-proof containment cell the Wolfram-Hart building can offer is engaged in her battle of...well, making allowances for the effect of demon brew...Wits with Angel...

Angel still recovering from her last shrewd verbal thrust, is relieved at first to see his lil' vamp soul bro...Anne being quite a clever one, he can use the moral support...

Anne quickly shifts from harsh invective to a more suitable tone with her...Well, she is part of Buffy...devoted one...

"Willum?...Ang'l bein' mean to me..." she tries a little more of the divide and conquer strategy Angel had previously suspected her of attempting...

Am not...Angel frowns...Bad enough she calls him fa'...Now to callim mea' too?...

"He' Angelus...Not Ang'l..." she tries a ploy... "He lyin' to ya ...Sayin' I ain' Buf...I's ya Buffy, Will...I wouldna lie to ya...He'...urpppp...Ang'lus...the basta'...Kil'em Wil...And lemme out..."

It's alla pl...ot...she waves a hand, swaying...A big...she smiles wickedly at Angel...fa' plo'...

"Kil'em Will...And lemme out..." she nods... "Cause I luvs ya..."

No way...Will shakes his head sadly, convinced by her heinous suggestion once and for all...This is not his Buffy...

"Ya ain' ma Buffy...Ya Anne..." he nods emphatically... "Ang'l?..." he turns away from the fiend using his love's body to his vamp soul brother... "We gotta a lil' prob...Wid Willa..."

Angel puts up a cautious hand...Best not to give out any potentially useful info in dealing with the crafty...And rather nasty...Anne... Les' go outina hall...he suggests...

"Oh...Wil?..." Anne bursts into tears as they move to the door... "Ya don' beli've me?...Oh..." she sobs...Rather sincere tears, actually...It's rather hard for her to have her Will distrust her...She is part of Buffy, after all...

And she's a bit under the weather...Smashed and in need of a little fresh blood...Being newborn and all...So it takes little to bring on quite honest tears...

Though Anne is in every way capable of exploiting any opportunity those sincere tears may give her...Much as she loves William and his counterpart, Spike...She is Buffy's darkest side...

However she quiets quickly having heard a possibly useful tidbit...A prob' wid Willa?...Hmmn...

She strains every fiber of her vamp-enhanced Slayer's being to hear what the hell her former and true loves are discussing out in the hall...

Willow, her most feared opponent right now...The one person most likely to succeed in driving her back without having to lose Buffy in the process...

William might be persuaded to avoid a staking if she could convince him it would lose him Buffy as well...But if Willow could offer the safe return of Buffy's soul as well as Anne's permanent departure...Anne was a gone goose...So anything suggesting a " prob' " with Willow was something likely to be useful...

Very useful...

"Ok...Ok..." Willow nods to Kennedy...Kennedy having managed to get her back to their bedroom to calm down after her little phone-shorting rant...

Freak lightening bolt, no doubt...Used to see it all the time back on Long Island...she'd noted to Ira...As Willow's dad eyed the blasted kitchen phone...Just lucky the plastic phone gave our Willow some insulation...

"I'll teleport to LA..." Drive...Kennedy firmly corrects... "Drive to LA...Find out what's really up if I have to tear that city of Angel ap..." Find out what's going on from Angel and Buffy...Kennedy eyes her sternly... "Find out what's up from Angel and Buffy...Curse the truth out of him..." Hear him out... "Hear him out...and if he has transformed her..."

Kill him...Kennedy nods...

"Kill him..." Willow finishes...But a bit of uncertainty...William seemed so sincerely...If whacked out...Guilt-ridden...

"I can't believe William would transform Buffy...If she was transformed, it must've been Spike...Angel must've failed..." Kennedy ponders...

"I can't believe Spike could transform Buffy...She'd never give him the chance...Unless..." Willow hesitates...

She did blame herself...For last May...she looks at Kennedy...After it all sunk in...?

Figuratively as well the literal sinking in at the Crater, that is...

"If Angel failed...And she thought she was the cause of Spike coming back...?" Willow...

Kennedy stares...Whoa...And I thought last year had romance...

Nah...Willow shook her head at the thought...Crazy...Let herself be killed out of guilt?...To keep poor Spikey company?...Crazy...

"Even if she loved him that much, our Buf would go the practical route...Bend every effort to catch Spike, club 'im...drug 'im...And bring him in for cursing, resurrection, or a fast trip to Africa...With me along to blast ole demon god into doing a rush job..."

"Could he have tricked her...?" Kennedy eyes her girl...

You sure could, babe...she thinks...I'd fall for your vamp's line in a hot sec...

"Please...Buffy knows Spike through and through...And William..."

But...Willow pauses...He sounded sincere...Utterly smashed...But sincere...

"Kinda wish I'd held off on the phone-blasting now..."

"Call him on cell?..." Kennedy suggests...

"Don't have the new number...I could call Wes, maybe he'd go over and check things out..."

Hmmn...Angel destroyed...Spike and...what was...ah, Anne...Anne?...The Vampire...dancing on his ashes...And opposing them...Wes...

"Lets get headed for LA...You drive...I'll try information and we'll call Wes just before we get to town..."

"Willow?..." Sheila calls from the living room...

"Dawn Summers and Xander Harris are here..."

And that strange little guy who's always around the Summers' girls these days...she does not say, eyeing Andrew, beaming beside Xander and Dawn at the Rosenbergs' front door...

"Tucker's brother..." Ira places him...

LA, the new location of the battered remnants of a once-mighty Evil law firm...

"So..." Joseph, senior partner of Wolfram-Hart, Inc, eyes his firm's latest...One of the very few new, customers...Looking across his booth table... "Mr. Crudgins...You were injured in the great quake last year...And the State of California has denied your claim to a disability pension...?"

"Yeah..." Crudgins frowns, shaking his head... "They say my neck ain't broke...And I got the X-rays ma broda took and everything...Bastards won't accept it..." He pounds the table...Ooops...Supposed to be a quadraplegic...

I call that...Shocking...Joseph shook his bald head...

"But...For you...Potentially very profitable..." he beams...And for us, thank the First and even the damn Slayer's damned blonde boyfriend...he thinks

"Of course...You understand that Wolfram-Hart, Inc...Usually doesn't handle cases of this type...However...Given our firm's long-standing concern for the workingman..."

And our own desperation...

"That's not the way you do it, Ms. Morgan..." the heavy-set woman standing over Lilah, decked out in Doublemeat uniform, frowns...

"Who the hell cares, so long as they're greasy and salty!...Urrgh..." Lilah slams down the fries basket...

"If you are gonna run this franchise according to Doublemeat standards...And you are..." the heavy-set woman, an official Doublemeat franchise trainer/supervisor states firmly... "You do everything...The Doublemeat way..."

Arrgh...

"Listen, you...I was once a top LA lawyer...I bought and sold little people like you...Literally..!" Lilah glares...

"The Doublemeat way...Or you go tell that boss of yours, I'm revoking the franchise..." the trainer stares grimly...

"Lilah!..." Joseph calls... "What the hell's going on...I'm with a client here..."

Our last desperate hope of a client...

He comes over...The trainer immediately at his elbow...

Lilah glares at the trainer...Who gives her a set and determined look back...

"I'm sick of this Joseph!...I'm a highly skilled attorney...What the hell am I doing this for!..." she shrieks...

And the grease is ruining my hair...she starts to sob...

"You oughta lay off the fries as well...You're putting a few on since I was last here..." the trainer coyly smiles...

Lilah stares, shocked...

Hey, she's good...Joseph eyes the trainer...When I get things back on track...I may have a place for this one...He turns to Lilah...God, all we need now is to lose the Doublemeat franchise...Our last steady source of income...

"Damn it, girl...You're supposed to be a team player...!...The team is down a bit this season...We all have to make sacrifices...Look at the First..."

You rode the crest of the wave when it was goin' up...Now you gotta hang in the down times...he frowns...

"Besides...After what happened last year...What firm would hire a former employee of Wolfram-Hart?...And the only other experience you have...Is what?..." he smiled coldly...

Filed for my uncle...In his trucking company before I went to law school...she sighs...

"Of course, you could go out into that cold world and find yourself some nice fellow..." Joseph leers...

Maybe that carpenter friend of Buffy Summers...Bet he'd provide for you well...Heh, heh...

"Better than I'm doing here..." Lilah glares...Hmmn...Wonder what that guy's like...The report on him I read last year said he was very sweet...

The trainer eyes the franchise contract in her large hands...Hmmn...Joseph stares...

"Lilah..." he puts a hand on her shoulder... "You know the firm will be back...And when we're back on top...I want my most capable attorney available...And able to reap the benefits of her loyal..." he eyes the trainer... "Service...Above and beyond..."

Way beyond...Lilah glares...

"The call of duty..."

Well...

"A successful outcome to Mr. Crudgins' case...And Wolfram-Hart is back on its way to the top...Ready once again to lead Evil to its inevitable triumph..." Joseph beams...His bald death's head gleaming in the glow of Doublemeat fluorescent lights...

"Can I...Help with the case?...I gotta keep my skills up, you know...Besides learn to fry the...urgh...Doublemeat way..." she sighs...

Of course...he beams...I'd never go to court without my Lilah beside me...

I need somebody to distract the judge, pass me papers, and go for coffee...he thinks...

"Well..." she eyes the smugly smiling trainer...Catching sight of Mr. Crudgins beaming down the aisle to her...

Ok...she nods...Looking back to Crudgins...Hmmn...If we win, he's loaded...

Lilah Crudgins?...Oh, God...she moans inwardly...As Crudgins waves his "paralyzed" arm...Hey, Lilah...

"Lets try your customer service manner..." the trainer eyes her clipboard...

"May...I...Take...Your..." Oh, God!... "Order..." Lilah groans...

"A little more enthusiasm...That's the Doublemeat way..."

"Right..."she sighs...Hey...she waves back to Crudgins...Trying to smile...

Lilah Crudgins...It's not so bad...She thinks...

Oh, God...!

Part VIII...

The containment cell room at the old Wolfram-Hart building...Where Angel and William have just returned from their brief conference in the outer hall...To consider what can be done to prevent a disaster in the form of a rampaging red-haired Wiccan from complicating matters still further...

Though Angel can sympathize with his vamp soul bro and new partner's guilt over his role in Buffy's death and transformation, he can't help but express frustration over the new fly in the ointment...

"You shouldna don' it Wil'am...It wa' stoo...pid...Dis stoopid..." he spreads his arms to indicate the magnitude of William's error, shaking the hands to suggest the depths of his annoyance...Will sadly nods his head in agreement...Dat stoopid, yeah...

"Willum's no' stoop...Ya'r big stoop!..." Anne loyally cries from the cell, glaring at Angel...He wisely ignores her, enraging her, naturally...

"I dunno wha' we gonna do...When Willa' gets here...Whoop...Big mes'...Big, big mes'..." he sighs to the chagrined William...Who hangs his head...

"Big fa' stoop...!...Pointy-haired fa' stoop!...Doncha lis' Willum..." Anne hollers... "Ya...Stoo..." she sways, rather more than ever...Clearly wobbily in the knees... Oh...she moans...A hand to her head...

"Anne...?" the boys look to see her collapse...Genuine enough, but not without some element of calculation...

Newborn and weak from her need of blood, Anne has decided she may as well turn her weakening condition into an opportunity, crafty fiend of Hell that she is...

Will can't resist the urge to rush to his lady's side...By the outside of the cage that is...He's a practical kind of romantic after 100 years with Spike, after all...

But even Angel...Wise in experience and resolute to his duty as he is, cannot help but feel sympathy for the lost one...Po' lil' dead thin' that she is...No need to make her suffer...

"Annie..." he eyes her from the cage door as Will reaches through to pat her hand... "You ok?..."

She prob' needs a lil' blud...he notes to Will who nods...After all, he sure did last night...Went right through four pints Angel had thoughtfully brought to the cavern where the W-H minions had made their attempt to revive Spike...

Anne opens her eyes...Looking blearly round...Ohhhh...she moans, still on the floor...Eyeing the anxious William and the clearly concerned if watchful, Angel...

She stoops to conquer, heh...heh...

"Ok, ok..." she waves a weary arm...Sitting up slowly... "I ain' gonna fool ya no more...I's Anne...The demmn...Annie...The Vampur..." she announces with a touch of pride... "But I luvs ya, Willy..." she looks to him, a sincere look on her sweet Buffy face... "Mor'an Buf does...I swears ta ya...Ya don' beli've me?..." she shakes her sad head... "Ok...Tim' ll tell ya...But fa' now...I sure cou'd use a lil' blood...Ya got a lil' blood, guys?...C'mon...I don' feel sa good...I..." she staggers, as she tries to rise...

"If I don' get no blood, ya gonna los' us both, Willum..." she notes...Ohhhh!...she collapses again...

"Anne...?...'nnie...? Oh?..." William looks to his senior partner and vampiral grandsire for the benefit of his extra years of wisdom in the nature of their dark kind...Physically that is...Given their own human souls...

Hmmn...Angel eyes the fallen Anne...

"She cud be lyin'...A fak'r..."

Ri'...A fak'r...William nods...But to see her lying, stretched out on the floor as poor Buffy had been just a few moments ago...and with her blood still staining her pretty white blouse...It's hard to maintain an indifferent air...

"Ang'l...She didn' get no blood after she trans...trom...went vamp...Maybe she's no fak'r...And maybe if she don' get some, and she goes poof!...I los' ma Buffy fa good..." he frets...

Hmmn...Angel ponders solemnly, reviewing his vast knowledge of vampiral lore...

"I dunno..." he shrugs... "Cud be she's no fak'r..."

"I ain' Willum..." Anne decides to return to the land of the conscious...But remains on the floor, pathetically weak...

"I's dyin'...goin' back...Gonna go poof!...If'n ya don' gemme no blood...Please, hon'?..." she pleads...

"I wudn' lie ta ya, baby..." she coos, her voice trailing off weakly... "Ma lil' Wil'am..." She passes out again...

"Cudn' we getta som' blud...?" Will looks at Angel... "Jest a lil' ta tid' her over...?...So she don' go...Poof!...?"

Well...Angel must allow that he can't see that it would make her condition any worse...So long as they don't provide her with too much...And don't leave her alone for any length of time... And in fact he does have a small stock on hand, left from what he'd brought over earlier, in part to nourish William on his rebirth, some of which is still on hand in the office fridge...

"O...K...I'll getta som' blud...But jes' a lil...Not too...much..." he sways...

"And a lil' beer...jes' for her thro..." cleverly reasoning the demon brew may be of use in keeping her in her current somewhat more manageable state...Not realizing this particular formulation is both fast-acting and long-lasting...Quite long-lasting...So that additional doses are not currently needed...

Will to his credit, catching on quickly...Ya, a lil' beer...Jes' for her...

Anne, listening from the floor, maintaining her faked unconsciousness, is rather pleased however...That was good brew...A little more would go down nice with the blood...

Heck, the new Queen of the Damned can handle a little beer...Even a strong import like Angel's...

Meanwhile, back at the new HQ of Hell's rather battered law firm...Joseph's crowded booth table at Doublemeat Palace franchise, #10002, LA, CA...More of the usual bad news is being dispensed...Along with seven Doublemeat Specials, eight cheesy fries, five cokes...And...Lilah checks her order slip...three coffees...

"Where's my cheery cherry pie?..." the former head of Wolfram-Hart's actuarial division looks over the trays...

Fresh out...Lilah shakes her head...Looking for the remnants of the once-mighty...And soon, sure to rebound...Wolfram-Hart staff to slide over...

Joseph eyes her...And the counter, attended rather poorly by a former head of the trust division...

"Lilah...I think we'll need you on duty...I'll fill you in later..." he nods over to the counter...

Urrggh...She curses under her breathe...Heading back...

"Could I have an able apple one instead...?" the department head calls...

Mr. Crudgins is looking better and better...

"So...Our efforts to revive Spike...Have failed..." Joseph sighs, summing up...Oh well, another failure...Nothing new really...

"In fact, worse than failed..." a distinguished-looking middle-aged type speaks up...A Vice-President, once never seen without a phalanx of secretaries and flunkies in the corridors of LA power...Now his one remaining suit looking a bit worn...

Assigned the thankless task of attempting this one, over his strongly-voiced, depressed insistence that Angel was sure to ruin it for them...And that William revived would be far worse a danger than Spike could be a benefit...He was rather happily painting as black a picture as possible...

"William the Bloody's human soul is back...Joined with Angel to fight against us...Not that there's much to fight just now..." he sighs...As does the whole table, the two demons who'd been clobbered by Angel and Will the night previous, Chester and Sidney, joining in...Only the indomitable Joseph maintaining that positive attitude...

Rather like Quentin Travers just before the blast...

"People!...We've got to see ourselves through these tough times!..." he notes... "So we've taken a few hard knocks...So the First was defeated, the Apocalypse averted..." Several times in one week, the depressed VP notes... "So William the Bloody is redeemed and now Angel's partner...So there's an army of activated Slayers loose in the world..."

"So the remaining assets of Wolfram-Hart, Inc are now tied up in this one crummy Doublemeat franchise..." one of the others sighs...

"May I take your order?..." Lilah tries to smile at the counter...

Couldn't we sell something that would kill the little brats at least?...she suppresses a glare at the whining little boys and girl demanding she give 'em a Doublemeat hat...

Fresh out...she explains to the frantic mother again...You got one, Gemme!...The little girl shrieks at her...

"Well..." Chester points out... "Sid and I did get the cursed brew to Angel's office fridge..."

My office fridge...one of the staff sighs...Such a short time ago...

Great...The depressed VP shakes his head... "They're probably getting plastered and having a ball on our brew right now..."

In my office...the staffer who'd formerly held the lower level office sighs again...

"Now, boys!..." Joseph puts on his best "win-one-for-our-beloved-former-movie-actor-President-playing-the-Gipper" face... "We can't let these temporary setbacks get us down, break our spirit...We are Wolfram-Hart...We are Evil...We are strong..."

The boys look at each other...We are sitting in a booth at the last bit of property saved from the wreckage...A Doublemeat Palace...

"And, once we bring our skills to bear on Mr. Crudgins' case...Take it to victory...We shall begin to rebuild our Empire of Evil..."

Hmmn...Oh, yeah...the deadbeat "quadraplegic" guy...Case did sound promising, given last year's quake...If any of us senior staff still remember how to handle a case in court...A staffer thinks...

"What we need..." Joseph eyes the group...Munching on his Doublemeat Special...Hey, nice job, Lilah...! he calls encouragingly, waving the sandwich... "Is a consultation...A little pep talk from one of Hell's finest...To rally us and revive our spirits..."

The First...? one looks at him...

"Institutionalized...She'll be well soon..." Joseph hastily adds...God if the guys got a look at her now...

"No, we need some words of wisdom from the one opponent of Buffy Summers who nearly took her out...Went straight for the heart...None of that "destroy the world, Buffy only a minor detail", long-winded Angelus nonsense...No, this one nearly accomplished the dream...Nearly took home all the chips..."

Nearly...?

"And...The really inspiring thing is...He's a mere human..." Joseph beams... "Well, a mere dead human now...And a genius...But still...Ya gotta admire a human gettin' that far on his lonesome..."

Another loser's gonna inspire us...? the depressed VP sighs to himself...Well, maybe he can suggest painless ways to toss in the towel...

Let me open this hell-portal and bring up this hologram of our friend...Joseph pulls out a battered laptop...Which sputters...God, don't let me lose the Crudgins file...he thinks...

A mist forms near the table...

"Fiya!..." the little boy torturing Lilah at the counter hollers...No, no she smiles sweetly...Just our Doublemeat management testing a safety system...

Without me...she glares back...

A bright light is seen from Joseph's mist...Strains of the "Flower Duet" from Lakme sung by what, considering the source of the music, cannot be considered an "angelic" choir but was certainly good enough are heard...And in the center of a flowery bower, in hammock, dressed in toga, and attended by what appear to be multiple adoring...Buffies, and various other attractive young ladies...One Buffy happily offering him a peeled grape...

And Andrew'd thought the First was lying about the "living as gods" thing...

"Hello, Warren...How goes it...?" Joseph calls...

"Hey, Joe, my man...Great, just great..." Warren calls out, sitting up a little and waving...No more right now, babe...Thanks...he tells the Buffy feeding him...

Warren Mears, Hell's fair-haired boy...Well...He came close...And a mere human to do so well after all the others?...How could they resist casting him as their greatest hero?...And as their chief current consultant for matters regarding Buffy...However much Angelus might fume...

And they say crime doesn't pay...

Ok, so he's piling up mucho punishment debits to be called in on Judgement Day...Warren always was a "fly now, pay later" kinda of guy...

"What can I do for my favorite attorney...?" Warren grins...Another beauty offering him a towel...Hey thanks, babe...

"Warren...The boys and Lilah are down...We need a little of that ole Mears...We'll-go-back-and -shoot-the-Slayer-even-if-world-conquest's-denied us spirit..."

Well...Warren beams...

"I think I can do one better...Guess you haven't heard the news..."

News...? Joseph eyes him...

News...? the gang stare...

News...? Lilah tries desperately to hear from the counter as she and the other staffer there are swamped by the after-church crowd...

"Buffy the Vampire Slayer...My Nemeses...uh...Nemesis..." Warren's Hell-residing spirit smiles...

"Has had a little...Incident..."

With the help of her blonde boyfriend...he smirks...

Hmmn...Joseph waits eagerly...The boys beginning to perk up a bit...Good news for Evil?...Possibly? At last?...

On a Sunday morning?...

"Hey...Warren..." Lilah tries to catch his eye, waving...

Hey, he's Hell's fair-haired boy this year...If things don't work out and Angel kills them all, she might want connections in Hell...

"I Love Ya...Truly..."

PG-13

Summary: With the aid of some demon brew, a little party at Angel's new offices to celebrate William's resurrection in LA gives Buffy her chance to say it and prove it...The hard way...

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, Cicelyverse page...

(ok, so this one's a bit of a throwaway part to get in the Hope tribute...I was gonna try to have Lilah and Joseph do the song but ...Maybe a second chorus later if I can figure out how to have them do it...)

Part IX...

Dawn, Xander, and Andrew have stopped by the Rosenbergs having themselves decided to head for LA to help Buffy and Angel properly welcome William back to Earth...Unaware of the potentially tragic outcome of the previous evening...

Their early morning decision having been especially easy considering their favorite Slayer had slipped out the evening before for LA like a bat out of hell after hearing word of the resurrection attempt via Willow after Angel's call to her for assistance with the demon blocking...Leaving a hasty and rather incoherent note for Dawn...

Not that they weren't glad for him...And her...Or that they thought them capable of doing anything foolish or headstrong (Uh-huh)...Just...It might be best to see that they had a leetle more of a crowd between them right now than just Angel...And his staff...

Willow and Kennedy decide reluctantly to accompany them...Hoping somehow to divert them, perhaps with Angel and co's help until Willow can learn if the grim news about Buffy is true and what can be done...Apart from vaporizing the newly restored William, that is, she notes to Kennedy aside as they hastily finish dressing...

After we hear him out...Kennedy eyes her...

Yeah...I'll hear him out...Then kill him...Willow nods...

Andrew sings a little Bob Hope 100 year birthday tribute as the gang drives to LA, Xander backing up...Dawn frowning a bit at Andy...But tolerating...After all, Xander hasn't shown this much spirit in weeks since Anya's passing...

And they are kinda cute singing it...

(Andrew and Xander)

[Buttons and Bows...from "The Paleface..." ]

Play

"A Western ranch is jest a branch of nowhere junction to me...

Gimme the city where livin's pretty

And the gals wear finery...(Geesh...Dawn sighs...Guys...?)

Oh...East is east and west is west

And the wrong un I have chose

Let's go where you'll keep on wearin'

Those frills and flowers and buttons and bows

Rings and things and buttons and bows...

Ye...ap!..."(Xander and Andrew)

(Andrew)

"Don't bury me in this prairie

Take me where the cement grows

Let's move da...own to some big ta..own

Where they love a gal by the cut o' her clothes (Dawn glares, Willow grins at Kennedy, joining in...)

And you'll stand out

In buttons and bows..."

(Kennedy, Willow, Andrew, Xander...Hey, Bob's birthday...Xander grins sheepishly at Dawn...Unnnh...Oh, well...)

"I love you in buckskin

Or skirts that you've homespun (Oh, yeah...Willow grins at her honey...)

But I'll love ya' longer, stronger where

Yer friends don't tote a gun..." ( or stake...Xander adds)

(Andrew and Xander)

"My bones denounce the buckboard bounce

And the cactus hurts my toes

Let's vamoose where gals keep usin'

Those silks and satins and linen that shows

And you'll all mine in buttons and bows..."

(Xander and Willow)

"Don't bury me in this here prairie

Take me where the cement grows

Let's move down to that big town

Where they love a gal by the cut o' her clothes

And you'll stand out

In buttons and bows..."

(Dawn and Willow to Andrew...Dawn grinning at Andy...)

"The wide open spaces...don't suit you like a rook

I will love you longer, stronger

where the steak ain't on the hoof..."

Oh, that follows...(Xander)

(The gang)

"My bones denounce the buckboard bounce

And that cactus hurts my toes

Let's vamoose where gals keep usin'

Those silks and satins and linen that shows

And you'll all mine in buttons and bows..."

"And another thing...(Andrew does it in one breath)

Gimme-eastern-trimmin'-where-women-are-women

In-high-silk-hose-and-peek-a-boo-clothes

And-French-parfume-that-rocks-the-room

And...hrrrrrrrrrrrrrrh...(Desperately takes a breath)

buttons and bows..."

(The gang)

"Buttons and bows...

Buttons and bows...

Ye...ap...!"

Buffy's soul and that of Mrs. Walthrop, William's mother, traverse the interdimensional void between Heaven and Limbo...That formless blankness where poor trapped souls, still not able to free themselves of Earthly links, awaiting punishments for unresolved crimes, or held fast by the clutch of their counterpart demons on Earth await liberation, resolution, salvation, and release to Heaven or in some cases, rebirth on Earth...William's mother naturally experienced in these travels having made many a journey from Heaven to comfort her poor son's trapped soul as best she could...Though his case had been rather unique...His soul blindly choosing to stay on Earth as near the rampaging Spike as possible...Hoping and believing that his Cicely would come for him, tell him it had all been some kind of hideous misunderstanding...And that the vampiral murdering thing was some kind of equally hideous dream...

Buffy is still a bit nervous around the lady...Will's mom after all...And she'd never met her...Even as Cicely back in 1880...And considering that she and William had sneaked off for a quick and secret marriage back then...It was only natural her...gulp...Mother-in-law...Might harbor a little resentment...Not to mention the driving William off into the arms of Drusilla for 100 plus years of torment thing...

Though she accepted that the immediate sock in the jaw Ms. W. had given her on their initial introduction on Buffy's return to Heaven had been simply a devoted mother's instinctive and natural response to seeing her poor loving son beaten silly for a full year by the woman he'd been slowly overcoming his own demon to reach out to and help...Perfectly understandable, even if the pain still lingered...Buffy felt her jaw...Can teeth be loosened in the formless afterlife...?...Sure felt like it...And Ms. W. had profusely apologized...Sorry, dear child...Loving mother here...No problem, understand completely...Buffy'd nodded...

And it never hurts to have your more or less new mom-in-law feeling a little guiltily in the wrong regards you...she thought...Working her mouth carefully...Quite a right hook for a formless being...

Besides...My mom/Cicely's father is quite ready to do much worse to William when he shows up...Despite her/his sympathizing with his plight...she noted to herself...I'll probably have to slip him into Heaven the back way...At the very least stay right by his side for the first century or so...When we do finally come for keeps...

"We are here, dear..." Mrs. Walthrop quietly tells her...As they drift in white emptiness...

Hmmn...Quiet place...Nice place to think over your life...Buffy thinks...

"I still don't understand why I didn't wind up here instead of Heaven..." she looks at Mrs. W's diffuse, then somewhat solid, floating head...

"You were here, dear, instantaneously..." Mrs. Walthrops notes... "But as you were fully aware of what had happened, nothing held you bound...And your demon was rather anxious not to remain linked to you...No doubt hoping to keep you from learning her plans..."

"Not much to conceal there...She wants to stay, kill everything human, get William or at least Spike to stay with her, and rule the world...Anne's not exactly a complicated personality..." Buffy replies...Sighing a bit...

Little embarrassing discussing your own Darkest Side...

"She probably hopes you'll be distracted and content to remain in Heaven..." Mrs. Walthrop eyes her...In part, anyway...Daughter-in-law...A bit anxiously...

"No way..." Buffy's soul shakes a formed head... "I'm not ready for eternal bliss just yet...Not without William and not until I've done my work..."

Phew...Mrs. W. thinks...Not that I doubted the poor child's love for my boy...But as Buffy dear Cicely had tended to forget William a bit...And I'd hate to have him battling alone on Earth for any additional time he spends there...

"I see, dear...Well...If you are ready...I will leave you now and you can seek others here as well as try to link with your counterpart..." she pauses, staring...

"Are you sure you want to do this, child?...It may be very painful for you...It is not easy to observe the darkness in yourself as well as others...And be capable of doing almost nothing to stop its rampage..."

"William...And Angel...And many of the others I've been dealing with back home had to do it...I'll deal...I need to see this...Ummn...Mother...Walthrop..."

Sorry...she hastily begins...A little Cicely fugue...

Mrs. Walthrop shakes her floating head with a smile...

"Oh...My dear...No...Please do call me Mother, Cicely...I only hope that you, Buffy as well as Cicely will choose to consider me your mother-in-law..." she beams...

"Ummn...Thanks...I'm sorry we didn't too it more formally in 1880...I hope you don't hold it against me..." Buffy sighs...

Oh...Dear...No...Mrs. Walthrop smiles...Hardly something to be embarrassed about...

"William never did tell you, did he, Cicely?...About...me...And his never-present father...?"

Ummn...Well...

"Mrs." Walthrop stares...Oh...?

"No...Not a word..." Buffy smiles nervously...Ok, one minor white lie to spare my mum-in-law's feelings...

'Sides I only just pulled up that particular Cicely memory...It could be...Mistaken...

"Well...Nothing of any importance...Mr. Walthrop slipped...er passed away...When William was quite young..." "Mrs." Walthrop smiles a bit nervously...

Ah...Buffy's disembodied head nods...Dutifully...

As a good Victorian daughter-in-law should...her Cicely nature noted...

Part X...

Play (Celebration)

"There's a party going on right here!...A celebration...To last a year!..." Joseph happily swings Lilah round in the aisles of the new Wolfram-Hart HQ/Doublemeat Palace franchise #10002...As Lionel Ritchie warbles on...

The boys of the staff raising their cokes and coffees, spiked in several cases with a little booze which some had managed to salvage from their old offices before their expulsion...

The tremendous news that Warren Mears' spirit had passed on to them had to be properly celebrated after all...Within the cramped means currently available to Evil's legal team...

Buffy the Vampire Slayer...The Greatest Slayer of All Time...Twice for those like Joseph in the know as to her past life as British Slayer Cicely Addams...Dead...And transformed...Her fiendish demon essence Anne free (in spirit at least) as a vampire in her Slayer-vamp body...At the insanely voluntary...Perhaps the one worrisome aspect, their still somewhat depressed Vice President (trade/commerce regulatory law and copywrite) noted...choice of Ms. Summers herself...And at the hands of her own beloved...Likewise in her past life, William Soames Walthrop aka William the Bloody...

The sort of news that just makes you wanta dance on a bright Sunday morning...Joseph notes to Lilah...

Who is still a bit uncertain as well as...Ow!...Another foot trampling...Sorry, dear...Joseph apologizes...Annoyed at not being consulted as to the next move...

"Next move?..." Joseph shakes his head... "What's to plan?...Obviously we sit back and let Anne the Vampire come to us, seeking our expert advice in her schemes of world domination and destruction...Hoping that at the very least, William and Angel will have to destroy their Buffy, Earthwise anyway, in order to save her soul...And taking no risks ourselves..."

"No Risks Ourselves..." The boys in their booth echo the Boss firmly...

The new mantra of the reorganized Wolfram-Hart team...

Just in case this one sputters out like that little "lets revive Spike and have him destroy Angel and lead Evil to triumph" scheme...he notes...

Hmmn...Joseph's clearly learnt his lesson...Still, considering Warren's info regarding Anne's imprisonment at their old home ground...Lilah can't resist making a suggestion for an attempt at supporting their potential ally...Much to his surprise, involving her taking the risk...

Hell, anything to get out of this damned Doublemeat uniform for a few hours...

"I could go to Angel's...See if there's anything we could do to help Anne get out of his clutches..." she hopefully suggests...

Hmmn...Joseph reflects, swinging her round the floor once more to the rhythmic sounds of Lionel Ritchie...On the one hand...A little help might give our new Lady of Evil a fighting chance with Angel...And Lilah's the one amongst the team competent enough to possibly succeed...

On the other...Cab fare to our old place?...We'd be cleaning out our little emergency supplies cash fund...Plus, Lilah's the only one of us who can make a Doublemeat Special worth a damn...Her skills are vital to our sole remaining source of income...

"I'd be very careful..." Lilah tries... "Please, Joseph..."

I gotta get outta here for a few hours...she hisses...Use my intellect a little...I'm going stir-crazy here, turnin' into a zombie...

Becoming a first-rate Doublemeater...she sighs...

"I'll go after that Crudgins if you don't let me go...And I can still land him at least..." she eyes him...

Hmmn...

Be nice to get the hell away from our depressed team of legal aces for a few hours at that...And I can see she doesn't try anything likely to have Angel on our last doorstep...And may as well put her dregs of enthusiasm to use...

"Lilah...That's the kind of spirit that will soon be putting us back where we belong..." he beams...

"You...And I...Will throw our experience and skills into the balance for Evil...Doing what we can to assist the latest addition to Evil's ranks..."

Taking No Risk Ourselves...he notes...Merely observing and awaiting any...Utterly safe...Opportunity to help Anne out...Ok?...

Ok...She nods, happily...Back in the saddle again...

"Can I have a mo to press my suit?...It's in the back room..." she notes...

My one remaining good suit...

"By all means..." Joseph waves expansively... "I've got to rework the day shift schedule and check the city bus schedules in any case..."

She eagerly races back...Tossing her hat at the depressed VP...Joseph nodding...Take the helm, Fred...

"Boys...Wolfram-Hart marches again...!..." he raises a fist... "With Buffy Summers' evil counterpart as our new ally!..."

We hope...he thinks...

"Anyone gotta city bus schedule?..."

"So, Willow..." Xander eyes her as he drives along towards LA...Dawn and Andrew now happily on their third chorus of "Buttons and Bows..."

Can it, guys...Kennedy hisses...We done paid Bob enough tribute...

"You don't seem all that excited about Will's return...? Anything wrong?..."

As in...Should I be ready to stake our little resurrected blonde boy?...he thinks...

"Hmmn...?...No, nothing...Wrong..." Willow shakes her head innocently... "That I...Know of..." Kennedy eyeing her...

Provided all went as well as Angel's last message about William's soul's making it said...she notes...

"Quite a thing..." Xander nods... "Not that I'd be completely comfortable seeing Buffy take up with him again..."

Dawn halts in midsong line...huh?...Take up...?

And Buf did zip off last night after Willow called without so much as a quick word...Just that lame note... "Went to LA to check on William...Call Willow or Xander, they'll explain...Back tomorrow asap...Do not do anything but homework..."

"On the other hand...He did good...And it sure would be nice to see her happy..." he sighs...

"Buffy's very happy...Just as she is..." Dawn hastily announces...

She's just glad that William's alive...Er...Undead alive...

"Poor guy..." Andrew notes... "Seems a little hard on him...A vamp again?..."

Yeah...Dawn jumps at the opening... "We really oughta give him peace at last...Right, Willow?"

Ummn...Well...

If he did what he told me he did...I'll give him peace all right...she thinks...

"Well...Dawn...We'll see hafta see..."

"Maybe Buf's gone to do that...As a Gift to him..." Dawn suggests...Hopefully...

"Dawnie..." Xander pauses... "I think we better be prepared for another outcome..."

And...he gives a rueful smile...If it's what I think it is...

"Be to nice to see her happy...And he has a soul now...Again..."

We hope...Willow notes...Kennedy eyeing her again, this time a quick nudge...Holdoffscray on the grimnewsmay...

"I mean..." she pauses as Dawn and Andrew look at her, Xander giving a brief glance...

"There was no guarantee the blocking spell would work..."

"But you said Angel called last night after he got William back to the office..." Xander notes... "And that Will'd made it..."

"And your mom said William called this morning..." Andrew adds...

Yeah...But...

"Nothing's sure until we see him and I check his soul out..." she tries... Gotta be cautious, guys...Potentially dealing with Spike here...You know...

"Absolutely...And Buffy had better be being cautious with him..." Dawn grimly notes...

And Angel had better be helping her be being cautious with him...Cause if nobody's being cautious...

"There's gonna be trouble..." she finishes...Arms folded...

Trouble with a capital D...

"Don't you think we should consult with the First before we go...?" Lilah, happily decked out in her one remaining suit, carefully applying lipstick from her last decently expensive tube, notes to the waiting Joseph...

Rally all our forces on this one...What's left, I mean...she eyes him...

The boys still in the booth, minus several ordered to man the counter and grill, reluctantly...Nod...

Ummn...Perhaps later...Joseph smiles brittlely...

"The First is busy regathering her strength...It may be a while before she can communicate with us...Let alone intervene here..."

Well...she notes...I just thought...She'd be glad to help out on this one, at least advicewise...What with it being the death and defeat of Buffy Summers and her soul and all...

"Please...Lilah...Don't go on about the First..." he hisses as they head towards the front door...Bus coming in ten minutes, one of the boys having pointed out...

"The last thing the boys need now is to see her...In her present state..." he eyes her...

Hmmn?...Lilah stares back...

"Demons and vampires beware!...I'm Buffy the Vampire Slayer..!..Here's the deal!..." The First hollers as she materializes in Warren's Hell chamber...Wildly waving a stake at Warren's various terrified female attendants, now reverted to their demon forms as Warren frowns...Damn...Hate when she gets like this...Who the Hell let her out this time?...She's supposed to be watched 24/7...

"Hey...Buffy..." he tries a little sugar... "Lookin' good, Slayer...Remember me, your ole pal...?"

"Warren Mears...You evildoer?...What petty nastiness are you up to now?..." she glares...Raising stake...

"Can't kill a human, Buffy, remember...Especially a disembodied human soul, like me..."

Oh...she ponders...Muttering to herself...Right... "Buffy doesn't kill humans...Come, Warren...I have to take you to the police, you evildoer..."

Not that kick again...Just last week we wandered all over Hell looking for a police station until her attendants managed to drug her essence...

"There are some vampire demon essences just outside my bower chamber, Slayer..." he tells her...She looks over to the chamber exit...

And some of them...he smiles...Look like real hunks...Redemption-seeking...With souls...he notes...

"Souls...?" she beams... "Looking for me to save them...?"

And...Hunks...?

"Oh, yeah...Hot ones...If I were female...And a Slayer..." Warren sighs... "I couldn't keep my hands off 'em..."

Especially when they seem so sincere about the redemption thing...he notes...

"And redemption-seeking...?...Just needin' me to help them find the way?...Through my incredible power of love and compassion...?" she stares at him...

Oh, yeah...Warren nods...

"But you better hurry...Some of them are right on the edge of slipping back into evil..."

Oh...!...she put a hand to her mouth... "I've got to save them...!..."

Stay here, Warren...she tells him...I will send police to arrest you, after I save or kill those poor vampires...

Or tries to sleep with all of them...he thinks...Like last time...

"Absolutely..." he nods...As she vanishes...

Phew... "Ok ladies..." he turns to his attendants... "She's gone...The attendants outside'll take care of her..." they resume human form...

"C'mon...Each nanosecond here is costing me a thousand years of post-Judgment Day torment..." he notes...

Lets make it worthwhile...he grins...

The basement area of the new offices of Angel, Wyndham-Price, Gunn, and Walthrop...At least on the strength of phony law school degree documents, LA's crack new investigative/legal team...

"H'ok...Will...Got'r blood and som' beer..." Angel waves a packet and bottle as he returns from the other room...William nervously watching the pathetic-looking Anne as she moans and slowly twists on the floor of her cell...Willum...Willum...Help ya Ann...ie...her feeble whisper...

"Anne...Ang'l got ya blud..." Will staggers to the door of the cell...Angel raising a cautious, experienced hand as his junior partner looks anxiously at him...

Gotta handle dis careful...She's one crafty one...

"Here ya go, Anne..." he carefully pushes the blood pack towards her as she lies on the floor, still groaning...Setting the beer down inside the cell as well...

"Cana sit up..." she moans... "Help me, hon'..Darlin'..." she opens her eyes at William...

"Gotta help...Cannna...Get...it...Oh..." she closes her eyes...

Will looks at Angel...Angel at him...Hmmn...

On the one hand...She cud be a fak'r...On the other...Can they really take that chance...? If she reaches the vampiral point of no return, it's several fewer chances to restore Buffy later on...

Still...Willow could probably do it without the vamp body...Angel notes...

Oh...Anne groans...Crap, he would remember that...she thinks...

"Jes...A lil' help...Please fellahs..."she whispers... "Canna reach it..."...she feebly feels for the blood packet...Just barely out of range...

Can' we?...Jes one of us...? Will looks at his senior partner and former rival in love...

"If it wus Dar'a...I'd say we do it..." he notes... "Jes lemme go...Ya can keep a watch...She won' do anythin'..."

No'a thin'...Anne whispers in agreement from the floor... "I's all out..."

Hmmn...Angel sighs...The Darla argument clearly causing him to waver...And he can keep a watch if she's trying anything...

"Ok...Jes sos we don' have trouble gettin' Buf back lat'r on...Anne?...Ya be good and let Will feed ya and we'll give ya more blud lat'r...Fore we haf Willa kill ya...And bring Buf bac'...Ok?..."

O...K...she groans...C'mon in, Wil'am...Ples'?...

He stands by the door, waiting for Angel to unlock...Leaning on it for support a moment...It pushes open...Hmmn...? Anne raises her head slightly...

Whoops...Angel looks a tad embarrassed...As Will stares at him...

Forgot to how lock it before...he explains...It opens in not out, that's why Anne couldn't force it open...By pushin' it, anyway...I just kep actin' like she should push not pull...Figur'd that'd kep her in...

But dese buttons'll lock it...he notes...Tapping two buttons on the door's edge...Jes saw da inst...insect...The rules for it...Outside...

Damn...She sighs...A cleva ruse on Ang'l's part...

But mine's cleverer!...She hops up...Waving...A broken-off piece of the toilet...At Will...And pulling him in towards her...

"Ok!...Now Igotcha!...Sor' hon'..." she sighs... "But dis is got wood stuff in't...Maybe..." she holds the piece at his throat...

"Don' mak' me do it Ang'l!...Cause Im Evil, ya know!..." she hollers at the senior partner as he stares in shock...A clever one, that Anne...Husbanding her strength and secreting the one (possibly) semi-wood element in her reach...

"Thanks for trustin' me...Ya ok, hon'?...Lemme know if Im hurtin' ya, Will..." she hastily asks her beloved...Dragging him back...And quite sincere in her gratitude about the trust...and her concern...

Hey, she's Evil not heartless...

"Lemme go, Anne..." William struggles...Angel opens the cell door...

"Bac' Ang'l...Or I does it...!...I will...!" she holds the improvised stake on Will, twisting round the cell...

"Ya won'..." Angel shakes his head... "Ya won' kill Willum..."

"He wus gonna kill me...!" she shakes her head, a bit miffed... "And I knows there's ways to bring 'im back...Spike or Willum...After I make him go poof!..."

"Sides...Im Evil...And I don' care if I..." Will gives a groan...The stake scraping his cheek... "Oh!...Ya ok, hon'?...Oh, I's sor'...Sor' babe..." she pats him and looks up...Whoops!...Angel closing...She pulls her hostage back...

"Ok...I luvs him..."she nods... "But if I can' haf him...Buf ain' gonna get him..." She raises the piece...

Hmmn...Angel ponders...He might...Possibly...Under the best conditions...Rush her successfully and free Will before she plunged the improvised stake into his heart...

But these are not the best conditions...

On the other hand...That thing might just be plastic...And useless as a stake...

However, most of these things contain at least some percentage of wood product...And some might be just enough...

What to do...?

"Don' wor' bout me, Ang'l...Lock us in...She won' kill me..." Will calls...

She beams a mo...That's her brave boy talkin'...Then frowns...

"I's gonna do it Ang'l!...Ya better bac off...And lemme go..."

"She won' do it..." Will cries...Angel holding his ground by the door...She sighs...

"Ok..." she waves her stake, still holding William tightly... "I won' kil ma lil' Willy..." she nods...

"But I's gonna kill Buffy and me!...And that ya know I will do!..." she tosses William back at Angel, holding the stake to her own throat...

"If I gotta die anyways...I mays as well do me..." she grimly tells them...Edging towards the door...

"No, Anne..." Will cries... "Ples'...Don'...No, Ang'l!..." he turns to hold Angel back...Giving her her chance to race for the door...She's out in a sec and closes it...Pressing the locking buttons...

"Ok...I won'..." she grins...

Hey!...Angel shakes at the cage door...William tries as well...

No...Hic...Good...Angel sighs...Dey built it ta hold the strongest demmns...

"Ya...It's a strong one...I tri' it..." Anne nods...

Jes tried it the wrong way...She notes, still a tad embarrassed over that one...

"No!..." Will cries... "Anne...You gotta let us out...Now!...Buf says you luv me too..."

No way...she shakes her head, nearly losing her balance...Whoa!... "I'm here and Ima gonna stay...Let Buf taka hike..."

"But I do luv ya, Will...In my ev'l way...And Ima gonna have ya...You or Spike...As my own...Soon..."

But...I got things ta do...She sways...Furst...She tries to take a dramatic pose...

"Now...!" Urp...Cuse me... "Da evil regi...reign o' Anne isa hand!...Ha!...Hic-hic...Ha!"

The Queena Anned!...she grins...

"Ummn...Damned, I mea..."

Angel and William exchange stares...Uh-oh...She leaves the room...Stumbling into the wall outside...

Oops... "Really gotta haf soma da blud fore I go..." she mutters... "See Willum!..." she happily turns back to him... "I wusn' lyin' all of it to ya...!"...she stumbles away...

I knew dis wus gonna happen, Will sighs...Jest knew it...Angel pats him...Gonna wok out, bro...Doncha wor'...

If Willa don' kill us when she gets here dat is...he notes...

She heads over to Angel's office...Staggers to the fridge, quickly scarfing down a couple of blood packets...Ah, dats the best...And grabbing some bottles of the demon brew...Then back to the containment room door...

"Bye fellas!...Ang'l? Ima gonna take some of dis neat brew?...I'll pay ya for it later...Ok?...Wellis too bad, 'cause Im evil an' I won't anyway...Hah!..."

Luv ya, William...Tr'ly...See ya later...Bye...she waves...Stopping a sec as she heads out...

"That was a beoootiful poem, hon'...Tanka..." she nods to him...

"Beoootiful as it wus in 18 an'80..." she smiles gently...Leaving William staring after her...Anne?...

"Bye Ang'l..." Oops...she stumbles on the first stair to the ground level...

"Im ok...Bye..."

Part XI...

Whoops...Anne halts by the front door on the ground level...

Just out of range of the golden morning sunlight pouring through...

Yikes!...It's mornin'...Geesch...The guys cudda tol' a girl...she grouses to herself...Grabbing overcoat...Hmmn...Musta been Wes'...and umbrella...

What to do?...Still not enough cover to go out in broad...

Ah...She spies a side exit, leading to what seemed to be a covered alleyway...

Furst thin's furst...Anne notes to herself as she departs the former Wolfram-Hart building...

Needa square meal...Feelin' kinda unda the weada...

Another blood packet just doesn't quite make the cut...

And gotta find a safe place to hole up...

She heads into the alleyway...Hafta head for the next building and make for the...Yuck!...Sewers?...Aw...Hopefully finding some Sunday dinner companions along the way...

Hmmn...she sniffs...Peering down...Rather dark, thanks to the overhead cover...

Fee, fi...Phooooooo...Tum...No, wai'...

Fum...Ya, das it...

I smell da blooda...Anyone...she chuckles, wobbling on her feet...

"Hey!..." she calls... "Somebod' da...?...I smell ya...Cum on, out..."

"Cum on!...demmit...I ain' got all day...!...Cum out and lemme me..."

No, no...Deys won' wanna be kil'...Gotta be clever...Use my...Wiles...

"Hey...You a guy?...I'ma hot chic...Cum on out!..." she calls...

Sorry, Willum...But Im jest gonna kil' him...Not mess around wid him...

Cause Im evil...But I ain' unfait'ful...

"Hey!...Im cumin' in...And..." Whoa...she halts...

"Buffy...?" Drusilla, her dinner still clutched in one hand, stares...

Hi...Dru!...Anne waves...

"An' left...?" she eyes the middle-aged woman Dru's just had over for dinner...

"You sure this is the way?..." Lilah eyes Joseph as they head downtown on the fourth bus they've taken so far on their odyssey back to their old stomping grounds...

"The guy back at the station said this was the right bus..." he notes, shrugging...But I'm not used to traveling this way..."

She beams at a rough looking, seated young man...Who gives her a sneering glare back...

"Young man..." Joseph looks at the young fellow... "My employee...A lady...Would very much like to sit...Please get up..."

"Make...me...Po...Arghh!..." the young man chokes in Joseph's firm grip...Rather strong for such a small old fellar...

"With...Pleasure, friend..."

The boy gasps...Turning blue...He struggles to rise..."O...K...O...K"...Joseph drops him...

A sudden round of applause catches both Joseph's and Lilah's attention...Not used to being hailed as a gallant gentleman is our Joe...He gives a modest nod...

Thanks, Boss...Lilah beams a bit at him...Taking a seat...

"There's our place...!.." he points out the window...A catch in his voice...

Our beautiful old office tower...he sighs...Lilah reaching to pat him as she stands for the stop...

"Buffy...?" Dru backs away...Blinking...

And is even more shocked at seeing Anne happily grab at the dropped corpse and lap up the remnants of blood on her dinner partner than terrified at being trapped in a narrow dead-end alleyway with the Slayer...

Well, a Slayer now...But still the best of the bunch...

Hmmn...Oh my...? Dru claps a hand to her mouth...

"Buffy?...You've gone and felt the velvet..." she smiles at her... "Was it Spikey who gave you the touch...? Oh?...The other one?...The little one?...He did this?..." she stares...

Me toff gentleman...?

Whaa?...Anne stares...

William...Dru explains... Oh...Anne nods... Yeah, wus him...But Buf axed 'im ta...

Buffy asked him...? A quick look to Miss Edith...

Strange indeed are the ways of Slayers and their human-souled pet vampires...she reflects...

"Well...Here you are ...In the dark...With me...Oh, so purpley velvet...Say hello, Miss Edith..." she raises the doll...

Hiya...Anne looks at Miss Edith...

"We must have a party, Miss Edith...All our lovely tea cups on the table...Come, Buffy, sister...It's time for tea..." Dru moves away to the back of the alley, and forces open a door in the building wall at the end... "Come, come...Time for sister's birthday party..."

A rat runs out the door...Past Anne's feet...

Hmmn...Anne looks at the open door...And scans the alley behind...No William or Angel...

Too bad, that containment cell is starting to look pretty damned good right now...

In her latest lair...An underground abandoned service tunnel co-op with another vamp, presently out on hunt...Dru has a fine tea party underway...

Tea...she firmly notes, as Anne offers a bottle of Angel's finest...

After all, demonic counterpart of a devout and strictly teetotaling young lady here...

"We have a new sister, Miss Edith...Say hello..." Dru waves Miss Edith's arm...

Nice to have company...she sadly notes...Her fellow tenant not being very much one for tea parties with Miss Edith, there hasn't been one in some time...

Obviously, it's been a while...As Anne can see, staring at the rotting cake on the tiny tea plates...

"Please say hello to Miss Edith, sister...She thinks you don't like her..."

Hiya...Anne stares at Miss Edith...Dat's one craz'...Wai'...Wai' one min'..

Dru...silla...Ya, das the one...the one who...! She slams her tea cup down...Startling Dru...

Hardly the sort of behavior one should...Even given an American vampiress...

"So...You kil' ma Willy...Bitch!..." Anne stares at Drusilla...

But thats ok...she waves a hand...Hesa vamp now...And mad' me a vamp...And Ima gonna get him to stay wid me...Willy...Or Spike...Onea da othda...

"Spike...?" Dru stares... "I felt him...My silly little boy...Drifting all the way down to Hell...For you, Buffy..." she sighs... "Now there's just that sparkly little soul...William...Silly,silly little boy..." she shakes her head...Right, Miss Edith?...she asks her doll...

Anne stares...God, dah is one craz' bitch...But...She does kno' her killin'...And I wan'r round...Tils I got my Willy or my Spik...ta help me out...

Then we stak'r, resure...er, wak'r up, and cut'r up...An' do it all ovra again...And aga'n...

Cause...Nobody kil's ma hon'...And getsaway wid it...

"So...Buffy..." Dru smiles...Anne...Anne notes firmly...Da's ma name now... "Oh?... So, sorry..."

"You're a good one, now, sister...So jolly..."

Yeah...? Anne eyes her...

Dru blinks...A vision...Not a good one...From her pov...

"But...Not so jolly!...No!...The light's coming...coming for me...All sparkly!..." Dru twists a bit... "You...Oh, why did you come...? Why did you let her come back...?"

Wha'...? Anne stares...

"Wha' li', Dru?...Whos' cumin'?...Buf's soul?...William?..." she looks around hopefully...

"No!..." Dru shrieks, trembling...Anne backing away a little... "SHE'S coming for me...!...The BAD ONE!...Oh, Spike, save poor Dru!...No!..." she collapses, huddling...

You craz' Dru?...Anne asks, curious...

"Hea...Hafa lil' drink..." she offers a bottle...Ooops...Lemme open...she breaks off the neck...Hea...

Dru remains in her fearful huddling state...

Hmmn...Anne patiently eyes her new "sister"...The people one has to work with in order to rule the world...And win one's true love away from one's own soul...

"Hafa lil' drink, Dru...It'll makya feel bettah...Hea..." she presses the broken bottle into Dru's left hand...

Dru ignores it...Starting to rise...Some measure of sense returning...Best to put tracks between herself and...IT...Which she can feel coming...Soon...So soon...

"Hey...?" Anne is offended...Such rudeness to the new Queen of the Damned is intolerable...

"I wan ya ta stay and hafa lil' drin' wid me...Now, Dru...Now...Or...Else..." she narrowly eyes the vampiress who'd killed her Will...Grabbing her arm...

Dru tries a stare...

"Don' ya try no hypo stuff...I's imm...allum...It don' wok wid me..." Anne glares back...

So...Her eyes narrow again...Whoops...Out of focus in her current condition...She widens them...Well...A challenge for the new Queen...

She twists Dru in front of her and begins to bend her arm up...Dru struggling rather helplessly...she lets out a howl!...

Sorry...Anne notes...But Ima Queen o f the Pride...And I's buss now...So ya do wha' I say...

"And I sa...It's hap' hour now...Ri'?..."

"Ri'...?"! she glares...Bending the arm further...OW!...Dru hollers... "Me mum told me never to drink any spirits...Especially with strangers..."

"No?...All ri'..." Anne narrowly eyes...The Other Woman...

"Then...I gotta taka hostage..." she snatches Miss Edith...

"Miss Edith?..." Dru stares...Oh!...

"Say ya prayers, ya Willum murderin' bitch..." Anne gloats... "Dollys goin' for a ride..."

In two parts...she smiles wickedly...Grabbing each leg with a different hand...

No!...Buffy...(Anne!...Get'd ri', ya craz'...Anne frowns...)...sorry, Anne...Please!...Dru pleads...

"Dubba-split..." the new Queen of the Damned chuckles...Pulling the legs tight...

All right!...Dru grabs at the bottle...And takes a swig...

Hmmn...Not too bad...Me mum couldn't've tried this...

"Anne...!..." she screams, as Anne snickers, tearing Miss Edith in two...Hah...

Hey...She's no mere Evil Willow doing things by halves...she happily notes to the now sobbing Dru...

"Miss Edith!..."

Actua'y...she eyes the doll halves on the floor and the head, rolling...Guess I do do thin' by hafs...heh, heh, heh...

Dru, on the floor, staggers for the doll parts...Taking a few more swigs of the bottle as she goes...

"Nasty, nasty...!" she rages, looking up at Anne, who leers, gloating...

"Veng'nace...For Willum!..." she cheers, raising a fist...

Hah, hah...Whoa!...Dru charges her...

Down...They struggle on the floor...

"You...Killed Miss...Ed...urp...ith...!..." Dru howls...Anne throws her off...

"Ya kil' Willum!..." Anne rages...Starting to stand...

But tha's ok...Lik' I said...she notes...Dru charges again!...They go down...

"If...Me...Mum...Were...Here..." Dru begins, choking Anne...

Me poor...ole mum...she sighs...Anne again tosses her off...

"Oh..." Dru stares round as she stands...Taking yet another belt...

"Mum...Mum...Help me..." she cries... "Help your poor daughter in her hour of..." Anne grabs her by the throat...

"Hou'a need's right...Ya craz'..." Anne frowns...Throwing her back...

Settl' dow'...she glares at her as Dru slowly staggers up...Looking round the room...

"Oh, dear mother...Mother of God...What horror has befallen me?..." she stares...

"Wha's wid ya?..." Anne stares...Oh...She clucks her head...

Ya drunk, ya craz'...

"Well...sob'r up...Cause I need ya..." Anne sways, glaring...

"Blessed angels of God...Intercede for me..." Dru trembles, staring at the hideous apparition in front of her...Surely a demon of Hell itself...

"No mor' for ya..." Anne takes the bottle away...

The people one must turn to sometimes...she frowns at Dru...Resuming normal face...

"My dear God...What are you?..." Dru stares...The fiend has become a rather pretty if vicious-looking...And rather blotto young blonde woman...

"Hello...?" Harmony calls...Entering the lair...

"Drusilla?...It's me..."

Ah...Anne beams...

Anoda recru't...For ma Army o'Ev'l...

"Help!...Please!..." Drusilla screams... "A fiend of Hell itself holds me captive...!"

Gonna need'r too from the looks of Dru...Anne eyes her terrified vamp sister...

"Buffy?..." Harmony stares...

"Anne...Fres' in from Hel...Hihowrya, Harm..."

A quaking Drusilla kneels by, desperately whispering prayers, as Harmony stares at Anne...

Reasonably willing to accept Anne's evidence of her demonality...Buffy would never go along with wearing all that face stuff...she thinks...Even to take me, her nemesis, by surprise...

But still in no little shock...Buffy transformed...?...The Slayer of Slayers one of us...?

Dru praying for God's merciful protection...?

Well, they do seem to have been putting it away...she eyes the bottles on the floor...

Anne confidently, if woozily , moves swiftly to set the new hierarchical order in place...

"Dru's my lieutenant...Wenshe sob'rs up ...And yous...?" she stares, blinking... "Oh, yeah, Harmony...Yous my..." she giggles...Harmony glares...Hey...Just who does Summers think...

"My cheerleada..." Anne snickers...

What?...Your what?...Harmony stares...

My top cheer'eada...Anne throws a bone...

"Now listen...Buffy...Or "Anne"...Or ...Whoever the heck you are..." Anne swiftly cuts Harmony's grouse off by grabbing her by the throat with one hand, hoisting her up...She struggles, gasping...

"You sayin'..." Anne glares narrowly... "Ya don' wanna be my cheer...cheer...Pom-pom girl?...Cause I wuldn't like it if yous sayin' ya don' wanna be my Pom-pom girl..."

"Sounds...Goo...d ...Poooomp-Poooomp...urgh..." Harmony gasps...

Anne releases her...Thats beta...

Onla queen o'da pride, honey...And that's...

Me...

"Is she...Drunk?...Or what?..." Harmony hisses to Dru...

Who nervously backs away...Dear Lord, another one...Save your poor servant, oh blessed virgin...

Part XII...

In the dark and hideous lair of The Damned Ones, a terrified and rather confused Drusilla eyes her fiendish companions...Dark and savage sisters of Hell, no doubt...

Though the one apparently not stricken by the curse of alcoholic spirits on top of her dark, foul nature...And rather at odds with the self-proclaimed Queen of the Evil ones, rather the worse for use of demon rum herself...seemed friendly enough on her arrival...

Strangely...These evil ones seem to regard her...A handmaiden of Christ...As one of them...

Worse yet are the strange and hideous images crossing her mind...Visions at least, perhaps even...Memories?...Of Evil...Suggesting perhaps...They might be right...

And most horrible of all...She feels a strange craving within...A hunger, really...For...

Merciful God!...

True!...True!...she shrieks suddenly, howling in her torment...Rather startling her vamp sisters in the middle of a little debate over precedence in the new pride...Harmony having tried a last, desperate counterstrike, only to be stopped in her tracks by a powerful slam across the face by Anne...Who might be smashed but was still throughly capable of dealing with the likes of Harm...

"I have tasted the blood of the innocent!...I have killed!...Oh, dear God!...Oh, blessed virgin!...Cleanse my foul essence and grant me the grace to be once again your handmaiden..." she drops to her knees, praying fervently...

Waita minute...? Anne eyes Dru narrowly...Harmony looking as well as she staggers to her feet...Here...Anne passes a bottle of brew to Harmony...No har' feelin's...Bu' I will kil' ya if ya does dat aga'n...She returns to the kneeling Dru...

"You soun' lik ya got a soul?...You gotta soul?...Cause we don' take no vamps wida soul..."

Exceptin' my Willum...she nods firmly...

"If he'll com'..." a slightly mournful note creeping in...She brushes it off...She, Anne, New Wuean..er Queen of the Damned, will have her William...Or at least her Spike...Beside her...In good time...

Harmony gives a rather loud blurp...Cuse...she giggles...Hey...Dat's good suf...Stuf...she nods...

"I...I'm not sure..." Dru stares at Anne... "I feel God's presence within again...Glowing and warming my dark heart to purity once more..."

Purdy?...Harmony stares at the bubbles in her bottle of brew...Dat's purdy too...Yep...boootifull...Oh...Jes lik' Xanda...boootiful...she thinks...Twisting a brew-soaked finger in her hair as Anne frowns at Dru...Ya sure sounds lika soul girl ta me...

And like Xanda, conveniently available, Harm eyes the bottle at hand, gulping down another belt...If what she heard about poor Anya's true...Oh...Ma po'r lil' Xanda...she murmurs...

"But can't exactly say as to soul..." Dru notes...

"Xanda...Is...So Boootifull...!..." Harmony cries...

In the containment cell in the basement of the former Wolfram-Hart tower, Angel and William contemplate the disastrous ter...er turn of events...

Demon Anne released and roaming free...To do whatever unspeakable mayhem she cared to...

A furious, even avenging Willow likely on her way, almost certainly convinced that the fiendish Spike had won out and murdered Buffy...

Or, at the very least certain to be furious with the two drunken human-souled vampiral dolts stupid enough to have helped Buffy in this insane little scheme...and dumb enough to have let a plastered Anne get the better of them...

William, rather depressed once more, was actually inclined to see the Willow thing as a positive...If she'd blast him straight to Heaven where a somewhat let-down, possibly disappointed, but always forgiving Buf would be waiting...Wouldn't necessarily be all that bad a conclusion to the whole dismal affair...

Darla waiting, too...He kindly noted to his vampiral soul brother...Currently nearly as depressed...

"Nah, Will...We can' let Willow fry us...Anne'll cause alkinda trouble..."Angel shakes his head... "And Buf'll be feelin' bad...We gotta stop her..."

Dat's so...William shakes his head sadly...Ma poor lil' Buf...Watchin' Anne killin' and torturin' from Heav'n...With blud all ov'r her purdy blouse...

But other images grip him...Buffy at the Summers'...Believing in him, placing her faith in him...The first person in so long...

At the Hellmouth, their hands united in flame...Her saying the words he now realized were truer than even she had known...

Buffy staring up at him...Waiting for him to bite, ready to die for their love...Serenely confident in him and utterly trusting...

Could any man...Even a human-souled Unman...Let a woman like that down?...Especially a romantic poet...

Hell, no!...

And then there was that thing Buf and Anne had both mentioned regards 1880...He'd really like to get the low-down on that one...

No...He shakes himself..."We...Urrrrrrrppppp!...Sor'...Gotta stop her...Save ma po'r lil' Slayer girl...Ya ri' Ang'l..." He folds his arms decisively...Well, decisively as he could given the effects of the demon brew and his own uncertainty...

Angel nods quietly and solemnly, as befitting the occasion...Nearly falling over...Dat wus some brew...

That's my vampiral, human-souled grandson...And my lil' vamp soul bro...talkin'...he notes proudly...

One could even overlook the Brit thing for a promising fellow like this...

So...Will eyes Angel...Who stares...Swaying somewhat...back...

"Wha'we do?..."

Angel ponders...Eyeing the bars, the room as a whole, and finally back to Will...

"I dunno..."

"Can we turn the wole thin' ov'r...?" Will suggests...

Les' try...Angel nods...

They strain their mighty vampiral muscles against the bars, trying to lift and rock the cell off its base...No good...

Hmmn...?

"Tunn'l?..." Will looks at the floor...Stamping on it...What do you know, a tile loose...He hopefully pries it loose...Hmmn...Concrete floor underneath...

Well, Rome wasn't built in a day...And Buffy took a good year to come round even after I got the soul back, he notes...

"Dey's a way outta any cage...We'll finds it, Ange..." he nods determinedly...

How?...Angel stares at him...

Jesus...Joseph sighs as he and Lilah enter the ground floor of their former home away from home...Well, home away from Hell in his case...The Wolfram-Hart tower...

"Doesn't Angel even keep security around on Sundays...? God, does he have that little respect for us, now?..." he shakes his bald head...

Probably hasn't got the cash flow for such a layout...Lilah shrugs...

Can't understand why he tried taking a big place like this building on for his little outfit...she notes...

"Ah...He's got "Big Plans"..." Joseph sneers, waving a disdainful hand...

Ambitious, resourceful, heroic...Hmmn...she ponders...

Wonder if Angel ever thought about me...That way...

And of course, there's always Wesley...

They crept cautiously across the first floor...Hearing faint sounds from below...Through the floor...As if some incredibly powerful, savage creature were trying to escape a high-tech containment cell...

"Sounds like our Annie is antsy down in the basement..." Joseph hisses... "Lets see what we can do for our new partner in Evil..."

At...No Risk Ourselves...he carefully notes...

Absolutely...Lilah nods...A bold new direction for firm policy that she for one can whole-heartedly support..

Part XIII...

En route to LA, early Sunday...

With Willow's strong endorsement...Backed by a supportive "starved, guys...Absolutely starved..."

Kennedy, Xander had pulled into a restaurant for breakfast before the final leg of their ride to LA...Where he happily, if cluelessly, notes long-overdue good news awaited them...

Well...From a certain pov, he also notes...Dawn giving a slight glare...

"I mean...Anything that makes our Buf happy..." he continues...A more intense glare...Willow now staring at him as well...

"But not...too happy..." he desperately finishes...Ducking behind a menu...

"You sure you're not a Slayer?..." Andrew asks Dawn...That was some Slayery glare there...

Great teacher...Ya can't help but pick it up living with the champ...she shrugs...

"Gotta hit the bathroom..." Willow gets up...Giving Kennedy a slight squeeze... "Ok..." the new Slayer nodded...Scanning the menu...There having been some truth to her "...starved..."

"Coming, honey?..." "I'm all set..." Kennedy continues to browse...

"Stay away from the cheese eggs..." Andrew notes to the group... "We had breakfast here on our way to Meihico...And couldn't eat again until we got there..."

You gotta go!...Willow sends a telepathic message, carefully blocking as best she could from the others...

"Huh?..." Kennedy looks up...

"What's that?..." Xander stared at Willow...

Gr...eat...Now we can't keep our thoughts from each other?...Why couldn't we've been like this back in high school?...she sighs..."We gotta talk...Sweetie..." she goes the conventional route...

Oh...Kennedy nods, getting up...Sorry, guys...Girlie talk...Willow gives a nervous beam...

I hear "girlie talk" telepathically now?...Xander thinks...As Willow and Kennedy head over to the restrooms...

Like...Mel Gibson?...

Neat...O...

Oh, yeah?...And just how is being able to hear lesbian "girlie talk"...Neat?..O?...Willow's projected thought pops into his head...As she and Kennedy pause just within the restrooms...

Hey...?...Privacy invader...I was just the innocent telepathic conversational bystander here...Xander thinks back...

Sorry...Say what's that image of me with yellow crayon all over my naked...?

Egg yolks...Thinking of nothing but egg yolks...Xander mumbles...Dawn and Andrew staring...

What's with the shirt?...Dawn asks Andrew across from her...Looking at the T-shirt under his open outer one...

Oh...he spreads the outer shirt to boldly proclaim...

"I have Issues with My Mother Goddess..." she reads...

Cute...she frowns...

Your idea...? she eyes Xander...Catching his grin...

"So...?" Kennedy eyes her wiccan...Jest a minute...Willow waves a hand...

God, Xander...Didn't know you still...she thinks, blushing a little...

Well, my fault for prying...He's right...Privacy invasion...

Do I really look that good naked...? Gee...

"Willow...?" Kennedy taps her...Off in another world, smiling at some crazy magical...

"Why did you drag me down here...To this..." she looks around the ladies room... Eggh...

I take back every smart remark I 've ever made about men's restrooms...

"Oh..." Willow comes back with a nervous start... "Sorry..."

Well, anyway...she hastily moves on...Yellow crayons firmly back in the box...

"I gotta get to Angel's building...Alone...And see what the hell's going on..." she explains...

"I'm gonna teleport..."

"Are you crazy?...Spike could be loose, Angel and Buffy could be dead...Buffy could be a vampire..."

And you told me you weren't gonna try teleports except in emergencies after that last time...

Ah...Willow waves an airy hand..."That was just a leetle miscalculation..."

"You wound up with half your foot in the wall...!" Kennedy hisses...

Ouch...Why'd she had to remind me?...It's still sore...

"Take me with you..."

"Too much power taking on passengers..." she shakes her head... "Look...Just tell the guys I'm having a little trouble and keep em happy about half an hour...No problem, especially once Xander and Dawn get served..."

Only imminent world destruction would stop them from taking the feed bags off once they get going...

"What if you're more than half an hour?..."

"How long can it take to see if Spike's back, Buffy's a vamp, and fry them both with a teleport out into this sunny morn...?"

"Resurrecting Buffy and maybe Angel again may take a little more time...But she already got a fawn back at her new place for William anyway..."

She sighs...Well...Maybe William too...If that idiot soul of his lost out to Spike and didn't have anything to do with Buffy getting vamped...If she was vamped...

"A fawn...? Buffy's got a fawn in her apartment...?"

"In the basement storage room...It's a cutie..." Willow smiles, then sighs again...We were really kinda hoping to avoid having to go it my spell way...

"C'mon, hon..." she eyes her anxious, frowning sweetie...Tara on an "attitude" day...she beams...

If Tara had that long raven hair and those deep black-brown eyes...Oh, my God...Did her face just morph into Xander's for a sec...?

Note to self...Avoid Psych class Monday...And possibly Wednesday...

"Willow?..." Kennedy frowns...At least pay attention when I'm trying to exert a little dominance in this relationship...

Sorry...The wiccan sighs...Mind all over the place...Side effect of too much fooling with telepathy...

"Ken-Ken...Baby...I gotta see what's up...Before the others get there...You saw how I took it, even when William was clearly kinda out of it...I might've...But for our wonderful state system of transformers...Fried him over the phone...If Xander or Dawn gets wind of this..."

And I can handle Spike if he's out and about again...she eyes her beau firmly...

"Can you handle Buffy the Vampire too?...If it's true...And she gets her fangs into you?..."

"Then I get to throughly kick every square inch of her butt...For all the right reasons this time..." she grinned...

As for the power, it stays with me, kiddo...Not a drop to my poor lil' demon self...Whatever happens...

"Not that I'll let Buffy the Vamp get that close..." she waves off Kennedy's nervous look... "Besides, Will was plastered to the gills...He and Buf probably just went to Vegas smashed and got hitched in some Elvis chapel...And he...Rightly...Figured this was a good way to break the news...Get us really upset, then let Buf spring the lesser of two evils..."

Though Dawn would probably see it as worse...

"C'mon Ken-Ken...Lemme see what's what and try to get it sorted out..."

O...K...Kennedy gives a long sigh...

"But only if you swear never to call me Ken-Ken again...Unless you'd like me to start calling you...Mom..."

Hmmn...Kinky...Willow grins...A quick peck on the cheek...

"Bye...Love ya...Watch the guys and keep Xander from overdoing it on the home fries...We have a pledge to Anya to maintain..."

"Plus he's my fallback guy if you flop...So we gotta keep him in tip-top shape..." she vanishes...

Kennedy sighs and opens the door to find an open-mouthed Dawn staring at her...

"Hey..." Ummn... "Willow's not feeling too well...Why don't we..."

Dawn blinks at her...

"Buffy...Is a...?"

"I must leave you now, child..." "Mrs." Walthrop told Buffy's drifting spirit gently...

"But just call to me if you need me and I will come to help..."

Thanks...Buffy nodded...Or, at least her floating head moved in a kind of nod...But...

"Yes, dear...?"

"What do I do?...I mean...Sorry if that sounds...I know this was my idea but..."

Those who are in torment will come upon you in time... "Mrs." Walthrop noted...And you will soon re-establish a link to your own demon...

"Are you absolutely sure, darling child?...William would never want you to suffer..."

I know...Buffy smiled wanly...He's spent a hundred years trying to keep me from suffering...

Just like I tried to keep him safe...

"Doesn't seem to have worked out too well...For either of us..."

I think...We have to take a different route now...Face our fears head on, not try to push them away again...

"But whatever happens here and on Earth...The important thing is...We've found each other again at last...And I...And he...Will never let anyone separate us again..."

Excepting the occasional voluntary vacation apart, like this one...she grinned...

"God bless you, dear girl...And thank you for keeping my William's soul alive...All these years..."

That was the real issue at...Stake...Here...she grinned...Never the existence of that...Other...In his body...

Funny mum-in-law...Buffy thought...Strictly to herself...

Now I see where he got that bloody awful bone from...

And that noble soul...she beamed at her...Gulp...Mother-in-law's spirit...

"Never doubt, Buffy...I will be with you, dear...And William...As will your mother/father, dear Cicely...Every day and...Always.. " she faded out...

Bye, Mum...Buffy's spirit called...

Hmmn...More white emptiness...I wonder if I could get in another call to William...She concentrates...Nothing...Well, Mom warned me I'd only have the very rare opportunity to make contact on my own...

Urpp...Excuse me...Hmmn...Geesch, would've thought that brew would have worked itself off by now...Up...Or is Limbo Down...Here?...

Thank God I didn't do that while Mum-in-law was with me...

Hmmn...Quiet..

Nice to just drift a moment...Think things over...

Wonder what kind of ceremony we should have...?...Dawn'll want it simple, no doubt...

If they don't find out what's happened and send Will on up here...

But then, heck...Heaven seemed like a nice place for a wedding...And honeymoon...

Wish Will would get in a call to me?...Like to know what's going with Anne...

But Mum Walthrop did say I'd plug back into Anne's doings soon...

Wonder what she's up to?...God, I hope Angel kept a little sense and got her secure...

Though of course...It being my demon...She's probably giving them every possible degree of Hell...

Hmmn...Maybe I should try to anticipate her for when I see Will and Angel again...If I went mad killer demon vamp, what would be my first move?

I mean after I clunked Brooding Man and his Blonde Boy Wonder over the heads and tied them up...

Well, seek shelter...Place to crash and plan...And reinforcements before I made my move on the gang...

Probably Dru...She's at hand in LA and...

"Hey?...Is someone there?..." she called...Sensing a presence...As a dense cloud formed from the mist around her...

"Tara?..." Buffy's spirit stared at the constantly, rapidly reshaping form in front of her...Tara's face occasionally but...

"Buffy?..." a sad vision of Tara's face briefly holds then vanishes into formlessness...

"Why are you here, Tara...?..." Buffy's spirit calls...Her face taking on a grin... "Were you trying to keep an eye on Willow?...I mean, after all...Nobody deserves Heaven more than... "

No!...she shrieked...Staring at the form in front of her...A dark-haired, wan...Even waifish...

"You!...No!...Get out!...Liar!...Murderess!...You murdering whore!..."

"Buffy...Buffy...Cicely..." a sad, rather British-accented voice now... "Please...I'm so sor..."

"Whore!...I'll kill you!...You murdered my husband, you bitch!...Worse than murdered!..." Buffy's raging, sorrowing but misty face now took on very different features...As her voice, full of tears, cracked...Dark hair, a bit more weight perhaps...A face worn by sorrow and disaster...Halfreck's if you took off twenty years in age, and some poundage from the "guidance counselor" who'd appeared to Dawn...

"I didn't know, Buffy...I swear...I had no memory of my past when I came to you and the others as Tara..." Drusilla's spirit desperately pleaded, sobbing now...

"I had no control over It...My demon...When she killed poor Mr. Walthrop...Oh...Please, please...I had no power over It..." she sobbed... "Try to understand, Cicely...Forgive me, Buffy...Forgive me...Mrs. Walthrop..."

Forgive me, William...Forgive me, God...she sobbed...

"Murdering, adulterous whore!..." Cicely shrieked... "You killed William!...You killed him!...You...!...You!...You..."

Her howl becoming a pitiful cry...And plea...

William...Forgive me...Forgive me...she sobbed...Her cries mingling with Dru's...And the countless trillions of others condemned and lost in the white void...

Part XIV...

"I Love Ya...Truly..."

PG-13

Summary: With the aid of some demon brew, a little party at Angel's new offices to celebrate William's resurrection in LA gives Buffy her chance to say it and prove it...The hard way...

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Part XIV...

This is what happens...Lilah grouses to herself...When a small-time outfit tries to grow too fast...As she and Joseph climb the thirty-three floors of stairs to his old office...Elevators being shut down either for Sunday or simple lack of cash...Probably both, she thinks...

"Gasp...Isn't there...Wheeze...Some other way to get down to the basement without being detected?..." she groans...This is ruining my last good suit...

"Do you...Wheeze...Want to be a guest of Angel and his new partner?..." Joseph glares... "Not to..." Hrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrg, he gulps air desperately... "Mention violating our new firmwide cardinal policy...No Risk Ourselves...On the first mission...?"

"And this is great...Wheeze...Exer...Gasp...Cise...Like being back...Gasp...At the ole...corporate gym...Hrrrrrg...Stairclimber..."

"Are you saying I'm fat...?" Lilah manages it in one breath...Looking back at him...

"What?...Gasp...Wherdyou...Pant, heave...Get that from?...Gasp...Of course not, girl...You modern...Wheeze...Women...Gasp...And this weight hangup...A few ex..." Hrrrrrrrrrg, pant, wait a min, he waves... "Extra pounds..." He caught a few breaths... "Would...I said would..." Staring at her pout... "Look good on you..."

"Don't be ridiculous..." he concludes... "You're a beautiful, Evil woman...And I'd best drop this kind of talk or our best legal mind will have me up on sexual harrassment charges..." he gives a panting smile...Pointing ahead...Lets go...

Aw...she shyly grins at his shiny lil' bald dome a moment as he comes up to her...When he gets like this...

"Thanks, Boss..." she beams...

"Onward and..." he takes a deep one... "Upward..."

"What..." Hrrrrrrrrg, she grabs a desperate breath as they resume... "If your secret elevator doesn't...Gasp... work?...Angel seems to have most of the power shut down all over the building...The...Hrrrrrrg... cheapskate..." she frowns, pausing to try to get some air in...

God, look at all this sweat...Damnit, when we get back the Boss is springing for a dry cleaner or a new suit if he has to mortgage our Doublemeat Palace...

"It's my escape clause...Gasp...In case Angel...Or my partners...Wheeze...Ever cornered me...I made sure it had its own generator...Don't worry, it'll get there and we'll be...Gasp, pant...Concealed...Especially after we use the magics in my office..."

Hey, I'm in damned good shape...he proudly notes to himself as they pass the thirtieth floor...For a guy who sat at a desk most of the day, lording over the innocent, defenceless, and helpless...

If Angel didn't already remove them...And if he isn't in your office, lording over us right now...she suggests...

Hmmn...Certainly what I would do...Joseph has to agree to himself...Though I'd never have wasted much time in Angel's dinky little place if the roles were reversed...

Oh...Firsty...He sighs a mo within...How could you've failed us like this?...All our hopes and dreams...Shot down in one instant...

Well...Life...And Unlife...And Immortality...Go on...We must press on and keep our spirit...We are strong...We are Evil...

"We...gasp...Are..." he starts a cheer out loud as Lilah staggers to the thirty-third floor stairway door...Staring back at him...

Oh, God...It's locked...she moans...Banging desperately...

"I've got the key, don't fret..." he pulls out a chain...A little wobbily...Feel a little...

"We...Gasp...Shall overcome..."

" 'Cause..." Hrrrrrg, he leans on Lilah...Hand on her shoulder as he fumbles out the key... "We...Are..."

The door opens...

"...Wolfram-Hart..." he flops to the floor as she goes through...Writhing a bit, clearly not in as good shape as he had thought...

"Boss?...Joseph?...Oh..." I knew this would be too much for him, why didn't he say something?...she anxiously looks round...

"Should I call 911...?" He just gives a moan...

Maybe...666...she ponders...Racing to the nearest office...Phone dead...

Damn pennyanny operation...she bangs the phone...Running back out...

Well...she ponders...Joseph groans again...Oh...She looks anxiously...Not good...Maybe Angel or Wesley are in his office down the hall...And if they're morons, they are compassionate types...

"Help!..." she hollers...

"Angel!...Wesley!..."

Ohhhhh...Joseph gives a gasp...Turning somewhat blue...

Oh... "Joseph..." she knees by him, loosening his tie...Unbuttoning his shirt...

"It's gonna be fine...I took the corporate CPR class...Just give me a minute...Ok?..."

Lets see...Right...

"Are you ok!..." she shakes him...Now, lift the head, check for...Stuff, eehew...

Hands on the sternum and...

"One and two and three and four...And..." Breathe, breathe...she blows air in...

C'mon, Joseph...We can't lose you now...Not our guiding spirit...Our Wolfram-Hart essence...Not now...she thinks desperately...

"C'mon, honey!...You're Wolfram-Hart!...You're Evil!...Oh, please Joseph..."

One and two and three and four...

And kiss...er breathe...

"How's things with you these days?..." Andrew asks kindly as he and Xander hold the fort at the restaurant table...

"Well..." Xander shrugs... "About what you'd expect, I guess...I'm trying to get by...Working as much as I can...Glad I have Buf and Dawn and Wil not too far away..."

"Anya...Wouldn't want you to..."

"An...?...Please..." Xander grins... "I've no doubt she's having trouble holding herself back from haunting me cause I'm not still all in black..."

Though I'm still wearing my black underwear...he smiles...

"She'd like that..." Andrew nods...

"Wish she would haunt me actually..." Xander sighs... "I was kinda countin' on it..."

"I mean...We know there's an afterlife...In our business and after all we've seen you can't doubt it anymore than this table..." he taps the imitation wood table...

But it worries me a little that she hasn't come to me...he stares...

"Maybe she's mad at me...Doesn't think I was worthy of being spectrally nagged...I did let her down, after all..."

Absolutely not...Andrew shakes his head...

"Or the worse alternative...She's being punished...Isn't allowed to come and visit me..."

A thousand years of vengeance-infliction...It's gotta pile up a large bill...he notes...

"And her soul was involved...It wasn't like with some poor vamp who can't help what his demon does...She consented to it..."

"No, Xander...She died saving us...And the world...She's fine...And I'm not just saying that out of fear for my own status..."

They give you bonus points for heroic redemption...Andrew concludes...And she took the cake...

"Thanks, Andy..." Xander nods..."You've made us all proud these last few months, you know..."

Andrew blushes...Ummn...

"Why not try a seance...? Willow or even I could do it..."

"Yeah, I've thought about it...But I'm a leetle nervous about it...What if I get bad news?...Like what I was saying..." Xander shakes his head...

"We won't...But if she needs help, then we could..."

A slight howl from down the hall at the restrooms...Unmistakably Dawn's...

Willow appears just outside the Wolfram-Hart tower...A quick look around suggests no unwanted bystanders...

And no feet or limbs trapped in sidewalk or walls...Phew...

Hmmn...Teleport in now that it's just a short jump?...Eh, big office tower I'm not familiar with...They could be on any floor...Why take chances...

Especially of p. my honey off if I get hurt...Or at least having her laugh her head off at me for a month after I have to be jaws of life extracted from the steel skeleton of the building...

She heads for the front door...

Not locked?...No security?...Hmmn...Our team LA is getting a mite overconfident I'd say...

"Angel?...Buffy?...William?..." she calls as she walks through the main foyer...Silent as a grave...And she oughta know...Except for...

A faint banging from below...

"Spike?..."

"C'mon guys...It's me!..." she tries to follow the sounds...And I promise to hear you out before I start flaying she thinks...

"A vampire?...Buffy is a vampire?..." Dawn wails... As Kennedy tries to calm her...

Ummn...No...Not exactly...Ummn...Willow was just...Nervous after William called...

"Worried about what they might do, ya know?...Those two crazy resurrected kids..." Kennedy smiles desperately...

"Willow said Buffy was a vampire!...I heard you talking!..."

"We don't know that she's a vamp, Dawn...It's just William called Willow and seemed very distraught...And preety drunk...And he mumbled some...Nonsense..."

"Spike made Buffy a vampire?...I'll kill him!...Lemme at him!..." Dawn shrieked...

"Whatdaya mean...You won' be invol...invu...(involved, Drusilla kindly repeats)...Ri'...Thanka..." Anne nods, and glares again... "In anythin' ev'l...?...Yous a vamp...We're ev'l..."

Les' ya gotta soul?...she eyes the still kneeling Dru narrowly...

"I've told you...I don't know about my poor soul...But I know I will not do more evil..." Drusilla shakes her head firmly...

God has cleansed me and I am his handmaiden once more...

"Dats boooootiful..." Harmony nods... "Jes lik Xanda..."

Poor lil' Xanda...

"Is he real sad...?" she turns to Anne...

"Yeah..." Anne sighs, forgetting Dru for the moment...

Real sad...she shakes her head...Poor Xander...Like Will when I died...The second...No, Cicely was first...Third time...

"We oughta kil' him and mak' 'im happy again..." she brightens...

"Dats a good idee...Annie..." Harmony nods...Banging a hand...OW!...On the table for emphasis...

"But dats for lat'r..." the new Queen turns back to her problem sister, staggering a bit... 'cuse me Ima a lil' unda da weada... "...Dru...Yous gonna help us...Or yous ashes..." Anne glares at her disobedient new lieutenant...Waving a finger vaguely at her...

"Kill me then, but I will not help the doing of Evil..." Dru looks firmly back...

"Ya gonna come wid' us...Or so hep me..." Anne fumes...Looking for her...Ah, good ole Mr. P...

Drusilla braces for the blow...Redemption at hand...

However...If lives might be spared by my agreeing to accompany them...And my intervention...she ponders...

A chance to begin my atonement...

"Wait...I'll accompany you...But I will not take human lives or do harm..." she offers...

"Wha' good is dat gonna do me...?" Anne glares, wobbily raising her stake...Still..the thought occurs...Angel...If he sees her like this...

Even better than her earlier reference to his waistline...And...Almost worth listening to Dru pray incessantly...

"Ya willin' to fight demons?...If they gives us any trouble...?"

"I would do battle with the Evil ones...To protect innocent lives..." she nods...

Well...

"I'll put ya on probablation...(Probation?..Dru eyes her)...Whatever..."

"But Harm'ny's my lieut...my numba two girl now...Ok, Harm?..."

O...kee...Dokey...Harm attempts to nod...Banging her head against the table...OW!...

"Whers we goin'?" she asks, seeking to determine the strategic plan asap...Capable second-in-command that she is..."Ta see Xanda..?" she asks, hopefully now...

"I dunno..." Anne ponders...Still feeling rather under the weather in spite of the additional blood packets she'd just drained from Dru and Harm's little emergency stash...

"I think...We gotta go see ma Watcha...Giles...And have him check me out...Cause I don' feel so good..."

In Sunnadal...? Harm stares, managing to lift her head off the table...Where Xanda's waitin'?...Poor sad little Xander...

"Sun'dal's gone...Jes a big, big hole now..." Anne shakes her head... "Dey's all in Crestwud..."

"Xanda too?..."

Yeah...Dey's all der...

"Les' go..." the Queen issues an executive order...

"You gonna vamp Gil's...?" Harmony looks at her as she tries to rise...Jes a min...O...K...Thanka...As Dru helps her to her feet...

"I dunno...Maybe I'll jes fool him for now...Tell 'im I'm good ole Buf...Jes feelin' unda da weada...Gotta hafa checkup..."

"I will not help you kill this man..." Drusilla states firmly...

"I jes said I dunno if I will...Mi' be gud ta see if I can fool'im..." Anne glares back...

Ummn...Annie...Harm interrupts...

Yeah?...

"It's dayli' out there...How's we gonna go ta Sunnadal...?"

"Crestwud, ya stup..." Anne frowns...

The Queen however has already considered and resolved that little matter...Another demonstration of why she is so suited for her crown...

"Dey's sewers at the station ri'...?...We go dat way and we goes on da train where da windas are painta up...We gets to Crestwud and tak' da sewer to Gil's new place and dat's dat..."

The train station...Another minor chance at atonement...Dru thinks happily...

I never did pay my fare to Sunnydale and back that time...

Part XV...

"I Love Ya...Truly..."

A relieved Lilah tends to a slowly recovering Joseph on the thirty-third floor of the former Wolfram-Hart tower...

"Had the worst nightmare of my existence..." Joseph sighs...Sipping from the cup of water she holds to his lips...

I dreamt we voluntarily evacuated the firm from LA...Just handed everything over...To Angel and his people...

Not even a fight...And everything in perfect working order...

"With a sinister intent, no doubt..." Lilah eyes him, suggestively...Patting him on the shoulder as she sets the cup down...

"That's the worst thing...I don't know..." he shakes his head sadly...

You were there, Lilah...You handled the negotiations...

"Oh...?" she smiles...

"Of course you'd been killed by Angelus...Instead of Wesley rescuing you the way he did here..."

Well...she patted his lil' bald head, helping him to a chair...Don't fret...It was only a bad dream...

"We did fight it out...And Jasmine creamed us, those of us who weren't susceptible to her before Angel finished us off...Remember?..." she notes...He nods vaguely...

"But I'm a multidimensional being since I accepted the First's offer to sign away my soul...My nightmares are visions of alternate realities in which my counterparts fight for Evil as I do...They really do exist...Somewhere..." he sighs...

What a humiliation...Even worse than what happened with the First...Oh...Is Evil being whipped everywhere?...

"Well...Like I said...Maybe there you're planning a brilliant, diabolical scheme to corrupt Angel and his people..." she tries encouragement...

And it hardly matters to us here...Where we fought and are fighting the bad fight...she smiles...

"And maybe this was just a message...A note to you from your counterparts that things could be worse..."

"Well..." he ponders, brightening a little... "You could be right...And it does suggest that things could even be worse..."

Oh, God...Worse?...he sighs again, losing ground...

"So...Was I a vampire or what in that other existence?...After I came back to negotiate with Angel, I mean..." Lilah asks...

"Angel!...Buffy!...Where are you?" Willow calls as she opens the stairway door to the basement floor of the Wolfram-Hart office tower...What the hell's this?...Hmmn...She picks up a bottle of rather fine-looking imported beer on its side on the stairs...Still cold...Another, broken, beside it...

Dropped by Anne in her hasty, stumbling march to freedom...

Ow!...She sucks on her cut finger...Jumping back from where she'd been looking at the two bottles...

Hmmn...Not bad...Angel's wasting no time upgrading his tastes to match his new station in life, she notes...

She picks up the intact bottle...A leetle early in the day, but hey...Delicious and highly addictive...

Willow?...Angel and William, in their containment cell look at each other...

"Ya betta speak to her, Ang'l...See if ya can 'plain it to her..." Will notes...Angel nodding...Though he would put money on Willow flaying them both...

"Willow!..." Angel calls... "Camere...We ned ya..."

"Hey, guys..." she walks in...Eyeing them carefully...Oh, Lord...

"It's true, isn't it...?" she frowns at Angel...William looking sheepish behind him...

"Don't kil' 'im, Willow...He dint mea ta...Buf thought it wud hep..." Angel sighs...

"Buf...fy...Asked ya to do dis...this...?" Willow stares...

Taking it rather well, Will notes to himself...

Oh-oh...he catches sight of an open brew bottle in her hand...

"Willow...Don' drink dat!..." he cries...Angel staring as well...Don'...he joins in...

"Wha?..Dis is great stuf..." Willow smiles at the bottle as she lifts it...

"Impor...Urpppppph...Sorry...From Dube...Doob...lin..."

"It's demmen brew..." Angel shakes his head...Not my stuff...

"Ah...Ya craz...And yous in big treble, yous is...Spike..." Willow glares at the fiend...

"Ya kill'd ma bestus frend inallda word...World...And...Afta I finish dis...Ima gonna kil ya..."

"He dint do it, Willow...Well he did do it but he dint mea' ta..." Angel tries...

"Yous aint gettin' off either, Ang'l...Or shud I say..." she tried to put on a formally confrontational air...Willow has figured this little scheme out...

"Ang'lus..."

Heh! Thought ya cud fool me, huh?...she wobbles a bit as she exposes the diabolical little plot...

"Ya lied ta us...Got Buf ta com' and mad' her thin' Willum wuz bac'...And alla time ya wus plannin' and schemin' to kil' her...Ma bust frend in alla werld..." she shakes her head sadly...Another swig... "You...Basta..."

"He aint Ang'lus, Willa!..." William steps forward... "It wus Buf provin' her luv for me..." he sighs...

My love...He pictures her face as she looked up to him...Just before he...Oh...

"Shudup!...And get reddy ta die!...Or wha'ver...Afta ya tell me where's Buf.." she takes a long pull from the bottle...Eyes briefly darkening...But unable to quite keep the power up...

"Willow!..." A desperate cry from the middle of the room...

"Wha?..." she whirls round to see...

Drusilla...A ghostly Drusilla, floating in midair...Somewhat on the faint side...

"Hey, Dru..." Angel waves...

"Ok..." Xander eyes Kennedy as he, she, Dawn, and Andrew stand by their car...Having been somewhat less than politely asked to vacate the premises after Dawn had begun shrieking up and down the hallway with regards to Buffy's possible transformation...

Jesus...Where do these crazies come from?...The owner grouses to two of his waitresses as they and several customers watch the nutcase little girl in the parking lot...Her family under orders to leave said lot within ten minutes or face cops...They're as bad as that weird tall depressed guy and his friends a few days ago...

"So...William told Willow..." Xander continues carefully... "That he transformed Buffy...And she's dead right now...?"

But he seemed kinda drunk...Kennedy nods...

"Buffy...Killed and transformed...By Spike...?" he eyes her...

Suddenly bursting into a chortle of giggling laughter...Andrew joining in...

"Xander!..." Dawn stares at him furiously...

"Aw, come on, Dawn...Buffy?...By Spike?..." he laughs...And suddenly halts...Whoa...

Oh, God...

"See?..." Dawn glares at Kennedy... "Xander believ..."

"They've gone and gotten married or something..." he cuts her off, shaking his head...

And William and Buffy are trying to put us off...While she thinks up some way to try and tell us...Oh, God...

"Xander?..." Dawn stares... "But, Angelus could be in on..."

"Dawn...? Let me ask you...What do you believe is more likely?...That Angelus came back, helped Wolfram-Hart get Spike back...And together they ambushed Buffy...Our Buffy?...The Greatest Slayer of All Time and then some?...And then William called Willow this morning to tell her how sorry he was...?"

"Or...That they all got smashed last night and Buffy took him to some fly-by-night chapel last night with Angel as witness...And married him...?...And now they're terrified to tell us the truth..."

"Willow was kinda seein' that as the best alternate explanation..." Kennedy notes...

"I'll kill him!...That vampire got my sister drunk and married her...!" Dawn shrieks... "I'll kill him, then her...! That idiot!..."

After all...Buffy Summers...? Ambushed, killed and transformed by...Spike...Even with Angelus in support?...Please...

"And that moron, Angel...!...He's dead too...!" Dawn cried...

"Lets get in town...And see what's really up..." Xander suggests...

Before we get arrested...he eyes the frowning owner though the restaurant window...

Part XVI...

"I Love Ya...Truly..."

PG-13

Summary: With the aid of some demon brew, a little party at Angel's new offices to celebrate William's resurrection in LA gives Buffy her chance to say it and prove it...The hard way...

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Archived at the Cicelyverse page of the Buffy Rebecca verse, .

Or direct to story at .

Part XVI...

The weird sisters...Plastered Anne, smashed Harmony, and dementedly pious Dru...Had made a temporary diversion on their way to the commuter rail station...

Dru having pointed out that Anne was not exactly fitly dressed for a demure train ride to Crestwood...Not in her Buffy-blood-soaked blouse...Purty...er pretty...As it was...

Fortunately an easy solution at hand...This being LA...Mall City...And the rail station situated well by several...With easy indoor access, even early on Sunday...

At least for three super-powered, if bombed vamp ladies...

Lemme see...Queen Anne ponders, as Harmony, last of the trio to clear the twisted-open metal barrier door...Owww!...she moans a bit as a sliver of metal catches her arm...Emerges into the mall's main corridor...

Don' know how cum we gotta camere...she grouses, stumbling...Thought we wus goin' to see Xanda...she grumbles...

Poor lil' Xanda...All 'lone...A widdow...er...Well, sorta...she tears up a bit...Hmmn...Widdower?...Widdow?...Her eyes narrow a bit now...Oh, yeah...

Willa...er Willow...

"We tole ya...I gotta get sum stuf..." Anne replies... "Can' wea dis ta see ma Watcha..." she indicates her stained blouse...

Gotta look ma best...Lotta clas'...If I'm gonna fool Gilesy...she wobbles a bit as she looks down the long hall...

"Well...I wan' sumthin' too..." Harmony firmly insists...Gotta look nice for Xanda...Even if he might not be quite inclined to appreciate her efforts just now...she sighs a bit to herself...

"Ova dere..." she points, falling after her pointing hand...Neiman Marcus, naturally...

Smashed she may be, but some instincts cannot be repressed...Hmmn...NM, oooh...Nice choice, lieutenant Harmony, Anne beams, following after...And pausing to help Harm back onto her feet...Upa dazey...er daisy...Dere we go...

No poor security fellows in sight, thank goodness...Dru gratefully notes to herself, following...

Back at Angel's new offices at the former Wolfram-Hart tower, Angel and William locked within their own demon containment cell and Willow outside, all stare at the hovering, ghostly form of Drusilla...

"Willow..." she repeats... "Please, you must lis..."

"Ya get outa here!..." Willow waves her arms...Vague sparks trying to form as she sways...

"Ya killer!...Ya here for ya boyfriend,huh?..." she sneers, eyeing William in the cell...

Willow...Please...

"Ya won' go?...O...K...Wheresa..." Ah, ha...A stake...She picks up the wood slat William had planned to immolate himself with during his earlier depressive fit...

"Now, dus' ya bitch!..." she tosses it at the floating Dru...Who winces a bit as it passes harmlessly through her misty presence...

Whoops...? All three stare at the stake on the ground as Drusilla tries to hold form a bit more stabley...

"I'm not the one you think, Willow..." she sighs... "I'm the human soul of Drusilla...Buffy sent me...She couldn't materialize again so soon without help..."

"Dru!...Ya saw ma Buffy...?" William calls...

"Oh, Mr. Walthrop..." Dru slowly shakes her head... "What can I say to you?...I..."

"Eh...Wa' unda the bridge, kiddo..." William waves... Yep, Angel hopefully nods...Wa' unda...

Hopefully applying to a certain brooding male vampire with regards to the poor floating waif soul as well...

"Ummn...Nice to see you...Sir.." Dru eyes Angel...A bit coolly...

Hey...He waves...Well, she seems kindly disposed enough...Maybe she's gone and li' bygones bes gone...an' all...

"Willow...Please..." she turns back to the swaying Wiccan... "You can see I'm not the vampiral Drusilla..."

Who actually just right now is acting rather...

"Wher'ya get off callin' me Willa...?" Willow fumes... "Eve' if ya are poor Drus' soul..."

OhmiGod!...she stares...As do William and Angel in their cell...As Drusilla morphs into Tara...

"Willow...I'm so sorry you had to find out like this..." she sighs...

Whoa...Harmony waves her fellow stupor sisters to a store window...Looka dat...she points...

Nice...she beams at a manniquin in lovely sheer cream blouse and camel suit...

"Dat's for me..." Anne firmly nods...Shood be bout ma siz...

"Jus da kinda thing ta see Giles in...Lotsa clas'..."

"Dere's a nice one for ya, Harm..." she kindly points out a consolation prize to her blearily glaring lieutenant...Bit more her size, Harmony did have to admit...And kinda nice sweater/skirt...Cashmere by the looks of it...

"Couldn't you wait until they open?...I have some money with me..." Dru nervously cuts in...

Hoping to avoid details as to where and how she'd acquired her little stash of pin money...In the darker moments of her existence...

"Theft is a sin..." she notes...

Anne stares at her...Geesh?...Lady, ifnn I gets ma way, Ima gonna kill thousands, maybe millions...she thinks...

'Sides this stuff is ridiculously overpriced...

No prutty stuf for Xanda?...Harm looks at "her" outfit...Gee...she sighs...

"Looky you..." Anne glares at their new moral compass...Dru staring back, serenely ready as always for martyrdom...

"Dat's mine...See..." she thumbs waveringly at the suit... "And you is gonna shud up and keepa watch out..."

"Cause I can take 'em off that stiff..." Anne points at the mannequin...

"Or oneada movin' stiffs out dere..." she vaguely waves a hand at the metal-door-barred windows of the far wall to sweepingly take in the great city beyond... "So...Whatdaya wan'?..."

All right...Dru sighs, shaking her head...God pardon this fault in my newly cleansed essence...Tossing a rock which shatters the window...And triggers an alarm...

Oh...Harmony blinks, wobbling...Dis dinnt sound so good...

"Geesh..." Anne stares... "Ya craz' idiut...!"

Take what you need and lets go...Dru firmly replies...

"I've no intention of allowing you to rob and plunder at will, Anne...Or whoever you call yourself...Be assured of that..."

"If I wuzn't sa undaweda, you..." And if William my human soul guy wasn't likely to be bothered by my shredding you, she did not say...Not wishing to offer Dru what would likely be a dangerous upper hand on her... "I'd letya have it soooo...Bad..." Anne furiously glares...

But not much time...And a shame to let that nice blouse and suit go...She picked her way carefully over the shattered glass of the storefront window and carefully grabbed at the outfit...Ah...Dats da way...she happily pulled her arm back in a swift movement, blouse, suit jacket, skirt all lovingly clutched in her hand...

"OW!..." Harmony howls as her mannequin topples forward and she cuts herself on the storefront glass...However, despite her slight incident, she falls back in triumph...Raising her prize...Gotcha!...

"Les go finda a ladies room or sumthin'..." Anne looks round, carefully folding her suit under an arm...Staggering off...Whoa...

"We gotta fin' sum makeup...Cause I gotta look...Jes ri'...Classy, ya know?..." she notes to Harm...

Yea...Me, too...Classy...Urpppppp...Harmony replies...

Cuse me...she blushes...

"Sisters...The wages of sin are Death..." Drusilla solemnly notes...

Shudup...Anne frowns...

A door opens at the far end of the corridor...Security...

Oh-oh...Harmony looks down, hand to mouth...

"No, sir...Stop! Run from this place, in God's name, I beg you!..."Dru calls...To a blinkingly startled, rather elderly man in mall security guard's uniform... "Your very soul is in danger here!"

Geesh...Anne glares, rolling her eyes...As the old man stares down at them...Slowly pulling out a cell phone...

Well, not much blud in dat ole guy...

"We must go!..." Dru turns to Anne... "I will not harm the innocent!..."

Yeah, yeah...Anne waves a hand...We gotta get goin' anyway...Dey's only a coupla trains this mornin'...

She quickly and deftly smashed another window...Racing in and out in a few seconds...Barely enough time for the elderly guard to call down to them to "Hold it, there...Ladies?..."...Somewhat mildly, not having any great inclination to take on three of those dangerous female gang types single-handedly...

Anne, now emerging, waves a packet of make-up...Les' go...

"Maybelline ok?..." she looks to Harmony...

Weeeell...Guess so...her lieutenant sighs...

Wush it coulda been Estee Lauder...

They make for their original entrance as the guard continues his call...Carefully giving his location...Wisely holding his position at his end of the corridor...

"May God bless you, sir..." Dru calls...

Bye...Harm waves...

Anne staring at her minions...Geesh, guys...

Wha' ki'da Evil team are we anaways?...

On the thirty-third floor of the former Wolfram-Hart tower...

"Ah..." Joseph beams as his high-speed, top secret, office elevator glides to a smooth stop in his former office, concealed panel door opening with a whoosh... "See, Lilah...Works as well as ever..." he turns back the locking key and pockets it as they enter...

"And with this little invisibility spell...Guaranteed to keep us from being detected by all visible light readers...Including human and vampiral eyes...For up to one hour...So long as we make no sudden, fast moves..."

Hmmn...Lilah frowns...Sounds pretty limited to me...

"We should be able to see what's up with Evil's latest...And, following the new corporate policy...At No Risk Ourselves...See if we can't offer her a little assist...When the time's right..."

"You're sure you're up for this, Joseph?...You ought to be headed for a hospital ER, you know..." she asks, a bit anxiously...

"Never..." He blinks a moment, swaying... "Better...Rarin' to go..."

He wanly raises and feebly shakes a fist...

She eyes his haggard face, shaking her head...

Well, my...er, our... Joe would rather die in the saddle I guess...And he is an Immortal after all, would be returned shortly after any temporary little death here...Though maybe not for some time...Gee...

But...An Evil leader's gotta do...What an Evil leader's gotta do...she notes to herself...Eyeing his sweet, lil' bald dome...

Ok...she sighs, nodding at him...Hell, anything's better than spending a dull Sunday morning at our Doublemeat Palace franchise, trying to improve my people skills...

Always providing this "Anne"'s first act on meeting us isn't to have us over for breakfast...

The door closes and they zip down the thirty-three floors...

Part XVII...

"I Love Ya...Truly..."

PG-13

Summary: With the aid of some demon brew, a little party at Angel's new offices to celebrate William's resurrection in LA gives Buffy her chance to say it and prove it...The hard way...

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Archived at the Cicelyverse page of the Buffy Rebecca verse, .

Or direct to story at .

Part XVII...

"Hello...Wyndham-Price here...Well, actually not here...Out for a bit...Leave a message, would you?...I will get back to you as soon as possible...If this is an emergency please call our offices at...No, hold a bit...One mo...Ah, yes...The new number is...Beep..."

Dawn frowns at the cell phone in her hand... "Wesley, this is Dawn...We're on our way to kill Spike, meet us at your new place and we'll explain...We may have to kill Angelus too...Watch out if you see Buffy, she may be a vamp...Or married to Spike...Or both...See ya, bye..."

Xander glancing at her briefly as he turns off the freeway...Kennedy and Andrew as well...

"He must have gone out..." she notes, shrugging...

"Dawny...We are gonna check things out first, you know..." Xander sighs...

"Vamp or married...Or both...I'm gonna kill him..." she replies grimly..."Then her..."

Sure seems like a Slayer to me...Andrew thinks, eyeing her set face...

A shocked, and rather plastered on demonic brew, Willow eyed the floating ghost of a sad-eyed Tara in the basement of the former Wolfram-Hart tower as William and Angel watched from the containment cell in which their former captive Anne, Buffy's demon essence, had in turn captured them...With embarrassing ease...

Tara...But if she was telling the truth...Also...

"Dru...Silla?..." Willow wobbly shakes her unstable head...Nearly staggering as she does... "Yer Dru...Urrrrrrrp...(Sor')...Silla?..."

Ya lia'!...she rages...Shaking a wavering fist...

Drusilla...Angel stares at her...Uh, boy...

I wus a leetle late gettin' round to helpin' her...Magine she'a lil' pissed a' me...he looks away in embarrassment...

"Ya made me think ya luv'd me...! Ya schemin'..." Willow rages, starting to sob... "All dis tim'..." she wobbles to a chair and collapses, head in hands...

Great...Led on by the nutty nun from Hell...William the Bloody's ex-...And vamp mum...To boot...

No wunda I kinda thought Wullum and me hada connextion...she sighs...Especially afta he trieda kil' me dat tim' in ma dorm...

Well, she eyes William who is trying to give a sympathetic look...At least it wasn't all the slut in me...We really did have a connection...A common interest...

In addition to Buffy...

"No, baby...I never lied to you..." Tara shakes her ghostly head...No...

No...? Willow looks up...

"I loved you...I love you...Always...Forever..."

But...I can't help what...Part of me...Was...

Is...

"Dru..." William calls to her... "It's real' ya?...Ya wer Tar' all the tim?"

"Oh, William...Mr. Walthrop..." she sighs to him... "If I had known...If the memories had come back to me while I was still alive with you guys...I swear...I would have tried to find someway..."

"Wa' unda the bridge, girl..." he repeats to her, swaying as he holds onto the cell bars... "No problemo...But, wha' happened to por ole Dru?...Is she ded'...?"

"No, Will...The demon half of me is still with you on Earth...But..."

"We'll get her, hon'..." Willow interjects... "Doncha wor'...Ma babe...Ma poor lil' sweetie..."

Yeah...We'll get'r...Angel chimes in, a bit feebly...Tara gives a brief, slight glare...Uh-huh, right...And returns to Willow...

"No, Willow...You don't understand...Dru...My demon...May be of help to you...In her current state..."

At least she certainly wants to try...

Wha?...Willow stares...Will and Angel as well...

"She had a somewhat different reaction to Angel's demon brew..." Tara explains... "Due to that psychotic demon essence of hers..."

Ours...she looks sheepishly at the wall...

Wha' demmen bru...? Willow looks at her love's ghost...

In Limbo, Buffy pondered, awaiting Tara-Drusilla's return...

Gentle Tara, the soul of Dru...My Will's killer..

Who came to Sunnydale blindly after her reincarnation, drawn just as Spike was...Just as I was drawn to William...

And like me, was killed before she could begin to remember and understand...

Great way to make amends, reincarnation...Geesch...If I'd put that kind of effort into checking Halfreck's credentials back in my Cicely days...

Well, hope what I gave her in mystic energy was enough to help her punch her way to Earth...If what she said about Anne's escape and Willow being on the warpath is true..The boys need any help they can get...

God, William I love you with all my soul(s) beyond life and death but what the hell were you and your idiot vamp-gramps doing?...After I warned you and all...

Oh...she shakes her misty head in the void...

I have just put all my trust in the soul of the woman who murdered my husband...

But then, poor Tara wasn't...Completely...To blame...Even poor sad ole Dru was just doing what came naturally...

I called on Haly...I let him go...Never recognized him even when I came back to find him...And never helped him...Not even releasing him when I could've like I do every other vamp I beat...

Beat...Oh, God...Why'd I have to think of that?...Oh, Will...

Well...At least Mum Walthrop got a little of that back for him with that sock in the jaw...She felt her chin...

But I must've known...Somewhere...Deep down...I knew...He was mine...

And when he told me a little of the story...Our story...That night...What did I do? What did I say to him?...I said...What I'd told Haly to say...The words that would drive him away...That did drive him away...

"You're...Beneath me..."

Oh, Will...My poor Will...Why'd you have to be so romantic and noble?...You could've let go of Spike like my Mom said and been safe in Heaven when I came after Cicely and our poor Amelia died...

Oh...I wanted to save you, baby...And look what a mess I've made of things...

Of course, whatever guilt I feel I am gonna take a profound pleasure in hunting vamp Dru down like a dog and staking her when I get back to Earth...

Gotta give my dear friend peace and all...

A blinking Wesley stared at the group on his doorstep...So much for a peaceful Sunday morning contemplating the joys of his new socio-economic bracket...

"You're telling me...That Angel's effort last night with Spike...er William...Failed...? That Spike is out and has killed Buffy...Possibly Angel as well...?" he looked at Xander...Who gave an uncertain...Weeelll...look...

"That's it..." Dawn said shortly, arms folded determinedly...

"Unless she married him..." she noted...Clearly indicating this to be an equally bad outcome...

"We don't really know what's happened, Wes..." Xander tried the voice of reason... "All we know for sure...More or less...Is that Will called Willow and told her he'd made it but that he'd transformed Buffy...With her consent...And that Angel was helping him watch over her..."

"Hmmn..." Wes pondered...Neat place, Dawn thought, peering in...Did he just get it after they took over Wolfram-Hart?...Or was that bastard Angel too cheap to even consider helping poor Buf out all this time... "Seems to me that the marriage thing..." he began, ready to point out that "transformation" could after all be a valid euphemism for the matrimonial state...When Dawn gave a hard glare...

"Is not at all likely..." he lamely concluded...Dawn cooling her gaze a degree...

"Perhaps you'd all best come in and we'll discuss the situation..." he suggested...

What does an upper-level, three bedroom place with library and den with great view in a good downtown LA neighborhood go for these days?...Xander wondered, staring round as he entered...

Buf should really give thought to moving her operation to the city...And maybe An's old idea about charging for her services wasn't all that...

"Enjoying the sights, Buffy...Cicely?" a chuckling voice drifted to Buffy...Cicely's tormented soul as she floated in the void of Limbo...Still anxiously waiting for word from Earth...

"I hear...Your own personal monster is proving to be one murderous fiend..." the voice laughed...

Always knew you had it in you...It's why I tried so hard to be with you...it sneered...

Male...Deep...Who?...Buffy wondered...Wait a minute...

"Angelus...?"

"Your own true...At your service, Slayer..." his form now appeared, grinning...

"What the Hell are you doing here?...And why the Hell aren't you there, you bastard murderer?..."

"Why, yes...Cicely..." he smiled to her...His form stable for a mo... "I have killed many a bastard...Like you with your dear illegitimate William..."

"Well...?" Anne stares at her troupe...A bit shyly for the new Queen of the Damned...Attempting to make a turn, Dru catching her as she nearly falls...Whoops...Thanka dere, Drusie...

"Wuw..." Harmony tries to hold her head steady as she looks at multiple Annes...Which one was...Ah...There we go...As they resolve to one...Trying to stand erect...

"Ya look...Good..." she solemnly nods...Looking her Queen over from wobbily top to staggering bottom...The new suit a bit rumpled but quite nice all in all...

"Very nice, Anne..." Dru nods as well...But...A kind smile... "Let me help you with the buttons here..." she hastily does up the open blouse for her...There...

But...She can't resist a chance to get in a moral lesson... "You will find these ill-gotten gains will do you no good..." she sighs...

"Eh...Shatup..." Anne waves a hand, nearly losing her balance... "Ya get the tickets...?"

Yes...Dru holds up the train tickets...She having volunteered to make the purchase, given Anne's and Harmony's somewhat questionable conditions...Huh, whadaya mean...? Anne had frowned...Under the weather as you've said, I mean...Dru diplomatically noting...

"Whas about me?..." Harm frets... "Don' I look gud...Cause I gotta look purdy for po'r Xanda..."

"You look wonderful too, dear..." Dru kindly notea...

"But I looks da bes...Cause Imda Queen..." Anne firmly cuts in...

"Well...Our train will be leaving soon...Shouldn't we go over?...Get seated..." Dru quickly averts another battle for pre-eminence, catching Harm's glare...

Seated far away from any potential victims...Dru thinks...While I try to find a way to contact poor Mr. Giles...Or one of Buffy's friends...If they'll listen to me...

If only a payphone had worked or the clerk had believed my story...she sighed to herself...But then, even the watered down version...Help, my two insane sisters are plotting to kill their former high-school librarian...Hadn't exactly...Especially after he'd caught sight of Anne and Harm staggering round the station...

Another sorority prank...Which a resigned Dru had finally given up and admitted to, begging forgiveness for her little playlet...A requirement for membership in the group, just as he'd cleverly guessed...she nodded...But...If he could find it in his kind heart to forgive her and still let her have the tickets...Her sorority sisters being, as he could no doubt see, a bit worse for initiation night...

Better a little white lie than having to try and stop Anne and her lieutenant from massacring the dozen or so train personnel and passengers when the clerk refused to let them have tickets...

"Yeah...Lets geta seat..." Anne agrees... "Gotta practice bein' Buffy for Gilesy...If Ima gonna fool him..."

This one, Dru cheerfully suggests...The last car, empty but for them...Nice for Anne's Buffy practicing, she notes...

"We're cumin' Xanda...!..." Harm calls, boarding...Ow!...Wacking her head on the door frame... "Don' ya be sad..." she stumbles inside...

And she'd be happy to wait up front and give the conductor their tickets when he came by...Dru beams at Anne as she helps her board...

"Who sent you here, Angelus...? What do they expect from me?...I'm not letting Anne stay on Earth..." Buffy's soul glares at her former opponent and Undead boyfriend's counterpart...

"True love..." he sighs... "Just a sucker for it, darling..."

I mean, you know better than anyone how much I like to watch...he chuckles...And you know I exist only to make you happy...

"Enough...Tell the First or the Master or whoever sent you I've no plans to make Heaven my home just yet...Anne is not staying..."

"Heaven?..." Angelus' head takes shape again, a cold smile on his face... "Heaven's not the place for you, Cicely..."

You know the punishment for murder after all, don't you, dear?...he grins...

"But hey, your ole friend Mr. Mears is there...Having quite a time I understand..."

"I didn't..." she blurts, then pulls up short...Good ole Angelus, punching my buttons...

"Get out..." she tells him quietly... "And tell your boss..."

"I've no "boss", girl...You know I'm the independent sort, Cicely..." he sniffs...

"Tell that to Darla's demon..." she sneers back... "That's likely to be news to her..."

"Now, Buffy..." he sighs... "Here we are...Together again...And unable to hurt each other physically...And all we can do is argue?...Lover, what's happened to us...?"

Oh, right...he smiles...You've found out you're an adulteress...Mrs. Walthrop...How many times over?...

"Not to mention guilty of murdering your husband and child..."


	2. Chapter 2

Part XVIII...

"I Love Ya...Truly..."

PG-13

Summary: With the aid of some demon brew, a little party at Angel's new offices to celebrate William's resurrection in LA gives Buffy her chance to say it and prove it...The hard way...

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Archived at the Cicelyverse page of the Buffy Rebecca verse, .

Or direct to story at .

Part XVIII...

LA...Later Sunday morning...

Dawn stalks Wesley's apartment...Pausing from verbally venting her rage to occasionally note some particularly nice aspect of the decor...While the others eye each other...Andrew displaying simple admiration for her colorful use of language and gesture, Kennedy and Xander looking to each other for an calming idea...Poor Wes simply trying to grasp the situation...

Damn...And just when I was beginning to savor the anticipation of my upcoming first day as a member of LA's hottest new legal team...he sighs inwardly...While fixing coffee for his visitors...

Not to mention planning to call Mum in England with the news...And considering a ring to the badly-wounded-but-recovering-in-hospital Quentin Travers...

As in a very politely worded, with all duly appropriate concern and sincere regret for those former colleagues lost, expressed... "in your face, Mr. ex-employer, retired Chairman..." ring...

"Xander...?" he hisses as Dawn continues her rant all the way to the master bathroom...(First door on the left, with the throne picture hung on the door...he calls...Neat, she breaks her frown a sec to eye the picture of a serene-looking Elizabeth I...) "How can you let her go on like this?...Surely William would never have called you people if Spike had succeeded in regaining control...And even if he did, we can't go charging in there if Buffy and Spike are both on the side of Evil...Not to mention Angel, if Angelus is back..."

"Wes...We're just lucky I was able to get Dawn to hold off and come here to find you first, stead of going straight on into your new place...Good thing none of us knows LA or where the old Wolfram-Hart tower was..." Xander sighs...Kennedy nodding beside him...

"Well..." Andrew notes, coming over... "Willow's probably already taken care of things over there, anyway..."

Kennedy gives Xander a worried look...Just what I'm afraid of...

Nah...Xander pats her...Willow's learned a lot about self-control over the past couple of years...Over and above her natural cool and rationally compassionate nature...

God, I hope she left something we can resurrect from...Clone...Or bury...he thinks...

"We'll head over right away...Don't fret..." Wes nods, smiling kindly at the new female member of the formerly Sunnydale, now Crestwood team...Rather attractive girl...

Attractive...Slayer...Woman...he corrects...Who could lift you with one hand and throw you through your brand new and quite solid for an LA condo...Wall, Wyndham-Price...

Still...Attractive...In an even more forthright than Buffy Summers, American kind of way...

"Did I introduce Willow's new significant other?..." Xander eyes him, having caught the stare...

Ah... "Yes, indeed...You introduced Ms. Kennedy when you came in..." Wes smiles at her...She smiling back...Cute...If I should ever happen to suddenly one day...she thinks, beaming...

And thanks, Xander...For quite probably saving my life...he gives Xander a quick nod..

"So...?" Andrew looks at their host... "Mr. Wyndham-Price?...Can you answer one question about your secret Council...?"

Ummn...Wes stares...Well...

"Rather been out of the loop the last few years..."

Lucky for me...he does not say... "But, please..." the others having introduced Tucker's brother...Ah, Wes had nodded...As a skilled, courageous, and valuable new team member...Who'd played a vital role in the defeat of the First...

"Dr. Who was one of you, wasn't he?...I mean the real Dr. Who, not those actors...In a honorary sense, him being a alien visitor and all..."

Hmmn?...Wes stared...Dr...Who?...

My God...How the devil did he...?

It's been an issue of some contention among some of us who've followed the Council's...And the Doctor's...Doings...These past years...Andrew notes...

I thought our activities were supposed to be completely unknown to the outside world...Wes blinks at Andrew...Excepting the occasional Evil leader like the First with sense enough to appreciate the potential threat of our skill and wisdom...

"Andrew..." Kennedy frowns...As Dawn re-emerges from the bathroom...

"Lets move out!..." A grim call...

Wes trying manfully to repress the thought as he grabs at a few potentially useful items...Including floppy disks of the Angelus curse and the Wolfram-Hart resurrection spell...

If Dawn's right...I may very well be the new head of LA's hottest new law firm...Wyndham-Price and Gunn...

In the concealed basement hallway leading from Joseph's secret elevator to the corridor outside the room where the vamp boys stood locked in their containment cell, Willow sitting beside the cell door as she stared at the Tara-Dru spirit...

"Are you sure this spell will work, Joseph?..." Lilah looked back to eye...Nothing...Hmmn...

Does seem like it's...

"If we keep quiet and avoid attracting the notice of anyone who might be able to disrupt the spell...Yes..." he hissed...

Just remember our new company policy...

"No Risk Ourselves..." Lilah breathed...

Words to live...A long time, hopefully...By...

She paused at the door...Sorry...As he bumped into her...

"But I can't see you..." she hissed back... "How'm I supposed to know where you're going?..."

"Just head for a spot near our old demon containment area...That's got to be where they have Anne...We'll observe the situation and when the others leave, make contact with our new ally..."

"But...What if she chooses to tell Angel about us?..."

He frowned...Goddamnit, girl...A little faith and courage... "She won't pass up our help...And besides, we're masked even from vamp supersenses...If she tells Angel we're here, we just slip right back out...He'll never be able to track us..."

And Jasmine's no threat to us...Famous last words...she did not say...

All right now, quietly...he breathed...Just open the door and head for the cell area...Quietly...he repeated...

"So...Dru's gonna hep us?..." a bleary-eyed Willow looks at Tara-Dru's shifting form...Can't hang on much longer fellas, it notes...Lets keep this quick...

"So long as she soused on Angel's...Or rather Angel's enemies' brew...She's on the side of the angels..." Tara nods... "Some weird effect opening up old memories from our past and acting on her mental imbalance..."

Grea'...Angel nods...

"Yeah..." She gives him a brief hard stare... "Thanks..." He tries to look away and loses what little balance he's been able to maintain...

Tara's spirit sighs, giving Willow a hasty glance and a slight, Mona Lisa smile...

"Sorry, Angel...I know it wasn't you..." A little guiltiness creeping into her voice as she eyes William...Hmmn...

After all...Even if she hadn't willingly cooperated in the poor lad's death...She had to admit, in her soul's lonely despair back then in Limbo...She had, perhaps, not been averse to a little company...

William staring, swaying...Attempting a nonchalant pose...Pas' mem'ries?...Memories...From the corners o' ma mind...Missy wa'-colored mem'ries...Of the wa' we wus...

In 18 and 80...he thinks...She...Buffy...And Annie...Both sai'...

Tara-Dru stares kindly at him...Her poor victim...And savior...

"Will...It's true...Just as you thought...She came for you...It's her..."

Angel stares over...Her...?...Willow looking as well...

"But I should leave it to her to tell you...It's her right..." the spirit shakes its shifting head... "And my time's about up..." it turns to Willow...Who, although still staring at her and William, is clearly drifting off...

"Wil...Willow?...Hey!..." Tara-Dru calls...Huh?...Oh, yeah...Willow blinks...

"Gonna sav' ya, babie..." she sways, trying to pull up some power...Wha'sa spull fer making ghosties stay?...Oh, yeah...No, dats for making paint stay on da walls longer...Hmmn...Yeah, dat's it...she tries to power up...But can't seem to get that ole black eye color back...Not to even mention the hair...

"I'm fine, sweetie...Really, I'm perfectly safe here..." Tara-Dru sighs... "Just missing you..."

Oh...Tar'...Willow lets out a low moan...

"Don't fret...And don't mourn, Willow...We'll see each other again...Just don't hurt Mr. Walthrop and Angel...Please...It was Buffy's decision..."

However crazy it was...And smashed she may have been...she gives a wan grin...Slipping back into Dru form now...Not much time left, she noted, hastily floating over to Willow...

"O...K...Long as you say so, hon'..." Willow nods, a slight glare at the moron boys... "I'll wait...For now..."

"'Sides I cann' get any pow'r up, anyways..." she sighs...

William looks a tad alarmed at that...No pow'?...Uh-oh...

"How's we gunna get ma lil' Buf back if Willa cana get it up..." he shakes his head...

Hey!...Willow glares at him... "I can get it up anytim'...I jest don' wanna ri' now...Ima lettin' ya and..." A dark if wobbily glare at the murderer of her beloved's former self..."Broddo boy here...Off..."

"For ma lil' babe's sake..." she smiles at the floating Tara-Dru...Now again in Tara form but clearly on the verge of fade out...

"Ma po' lil' Buf'..." Will sighs... "Dum, dum idea...Now Im gonna los' her for sur..."

"Never, Will...Never..." Tara-Dru firmly replies... "You've only seen the tip of the iceberg as far as her love for you goes...Believe me, you'll never lose her...Whatever happens here..."

Eternity is yours...she smiles...Yours and hers...

" 'Course, getting Giles to do something about that brew and maybe getting a little coffee into my Willow here might help move things along..." she notes...

"Buffy will try to speak to you when she recovers some of the mystic energy she transferred to me...Try a seance in a few hours if you need help..."

"Tar'..." Willow stretches her hands out...Pleading...

"I'm with you, babe...My love...Every day and always..." Tara-Dru beams at her, blowing a kiss...Fading out...

"Oh...I'd appreciate it if you'd get off your ass and do something about my counterpart if and when she returns to evil, Angel..." she gave a last glance his way...

But no hard feelings...she smiles, waving to the group...

Ummn...Yea'...Angel sheepishly waves back...I wuz gonna get ri' on that soon as we got the new place set...

"Bye, Dru...Tar'..." Will waves...Willow staring at him a moment...

God...He is one decent kinda guy...Not to be po'd at her...she smiles a bit at him through tears...

Well...If Buf real' wans him...And she mus' ta hav' dun' sumthin' this stoopid...

O...K...

The tip of the iceberg...William thinks...Smiling like a young boy in his joy...

The freakin' tip of da ice...berg...Oh, Buf...he grips the bars tight...Whoa!...Wait!...

Eter...Nity...Is ours?...he thinks, gasping...

As Angel seeks to resume his normal role of forceful leader of the Good...

"Willa...Ya gotta get this thing ope'..." the Brooding One indicates the cage door... "We gotta get movin' and find Anne..."

Buf' demmun...he explains as she stares...Who?...

Eternity...Is Ours...William stares blankly at the opposite wall...

"Anne...Dat's a nice name..." Willow notes... Ok, she nods at the door...

"So?...How's I do dis...?" she stares at Angel...Then the cage door...

'Cause ma magi' batt'ry's all pooped out...she shakes her head...

Ummn...He ponders...Ummn...

Both turning in shock as William falls to his knees, sobbing...Hands tearing through his hair...

"Willum...? I ain't gunna kil' ya..." Willow tries...Yet...she notes...

"Oh...Cic'ly..." he sobs... "Cic'ly...!...You din' hate me...You cam' for me...At last...Oh..."

Angel and Willow staring at each other...Cic'ly?...Who da the hec...?

She cam' back for me...he stands, beaming at the two...I wus ri' all along...

"She luvs me, guys...She alwa's luved me..."

Part XIX...

"I Love Ya...Truly..."

PG-13

Summary: With the aid of some demon brew, a little party at Angel's new offices to celebrate William's resurrection in LA gives Buffy her chance to say it and prove it...The hard way...

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Archived at the Cicelyverse page of the Buffy Rebecca verse, .

Or direct to story at .

Part XIX...

An innocent question by Dru was now the cause of considerable upset among the weird sisters as their train sped toward Crestwood in the midmorning sun...The ladies reasonably safe in their seats in the most battered and painted-over-windowed of the cars...

"How will we get to Mr. Giles' place?...It being daylight, I mean..."

Ummn...Anne blinks...Ummn...Oops...

Nefer thoughta dat...Uh-oh...

But even more than Buffy as the "Law", Anne, as new Queen of the Damned cannot allow herself to seem to be in error or suffering from indecision...She puts on a bold front immediately...

"I got it al'set...Yep..." she nods, waving off all possible doubts...All taka car' of...Yeah...

Hmmn...Dru eyes her questioningly as she sits beside her...But not unhappily...If she can keep the fiendish ones confined to the train station until sunset...And perhaps reach poor Mr. Giles and warn him in the interval...

And if he'd ever believe Drusilla was attempting to save his life...Given what she vaguely remembered now of previous contacts with the Slayer and her band...

Even the blotto Harm, sitting just behind them in the otherwise empty car, was left less than completely satisfied by dat...er that response...

"Hows we gonna get dere, An'...? And see Xanda...?"

The Queen is somewhat put out by the clear lack of faith expressed...

"I sa'd I got it all set..." she frowns...A glare at her minions...

An' I got it all set...Allllll...Set...she notes...Firmly...If somewhat blearily...

"So...Hows we gonna...?" Harm persists...

Shedup...Anne glares across the seat back... "I'll tels when we get dere...An' when I's good and..." ...Urrrrrrp...Cuse, she blushed... "Redy..."

"...'Cause Im da Bos' here...An' I says things wen I wanta..."

She sits, affecting an indifferent...Queenly...Air...Harm sulks...Wuz only askin'...Geesh...Putting her chin on the edge of the seat in front of theirs...To contemplate a proper response...Appropriately respectful yet expressing the legitimate concerns of the new second-in-command of the latest Army of Evil...

Wus we gonna do?...Anne thinks...Demmit why'd Dru hafta think of dat now...?...A snore now from Harmony as her head lolls on the back of their seat...Dru kindly settling her back...

Mebbe dis wuzn't a good ide'...Don' wanna go sit in the place all day...And I think the sewas aint sa good in Crestwood...Har' ta get ta Gilesy's dat way...An' wha' if Willum and Ange get out?...God...Shet'll hit the fa' big time...Well...

Too lat' now...Shet...

Gotta think of sumtin'...Use ma...Hic..." 'Cuse me guys"...she sheepishly smiled...Wiles...

So ya's see...? Will eyes his companions...Both still looking rather clueless...Angel shrugging as Willow scratched her head outside the cell where the demon-brew sloshed vamp boys cooled their heels, courtesy Anne's "wiles"...

"Cicely wuz ma girl in 1880...And she's Buffy now...She tol' me ta go in 18...ummn...80...But I guess she din' mean it...Or she changed her mind..." he ponders a mo...

Anyways...She cum back for me...In Buf's bod...Lika good wifey shud...

"Wifey?..." Willow blinked... "Ya mean Buf was...?"

Angel staring, the idea finally sinking in...Buf and Will...? Marr'd?...Holy!...

God, what's me mum gonna say when I finally makes it ta Heav'n?...Bad enough what Angelus did to the family...Sum of it be'en Liam's angry side and all...But fer me good side ta nearly break up a marriage?...Uh, boy...

A good, old-fashioned Irish mum's ear box for sure...Every day for several thousand years, most likely...

"Cic'ly..." William corrects...

"I think got her pitcha back at ma...No..." he sighed... "Dat wus da one Buf and solda boy blew up..." Oh...Waita min...

"Remeber Hala...Half...Haly...The demmun who wuz friends with Ana...?"

Poor ole Ana...he bows his head...As do the others, Willow tearing up...

"Hala..feck...?" Willow asks, looking back up...Will nods, eagerly beginning to lay out the tale...What he knows of it at least...

What'll we do...? Lilah, invisible at the entrance to the room, hisses quietly as possible to Joseph, likewise invisible...

He hastily nudges her quiet...Whoops...Too late, perhaps...As Angel looks their way...Sloshed perhaps but supersenses in perfect...More or less...Order...

"Sumbody dere?..." he calls...Peering...Hmmn...He looks at Will who looks toward the door, having heard something himself...

"Sumbody?...Hi..." Will calls...Hmmn...Willow turning to look now...

"Buf?..." he tries hopefully...She did promise to try again after all...

Joseph puts an invisible hand out swiftly...Ah...And pulls his junior partner back...

Hmmn...Nobody...? Will looks at Angel...Who shrugs...Guess...

A crash as Lilah, led by Joseph, stumbles over a wastebasket...

"OW!..." she shrieks...

"Hey!..." Angel calls... I know dat yell...he thinks...

"Lilah?...Dat you?...Wheres you at?..." he looks round...Willow and William looking as well...

"Come on, come on..." Joseph hisses... "The jig's up...Hurry, that Rosenberg's a witch..." he maintains a firm grip on his partner's...Oh...

God, awfully sorry, Lilah...he whispers hastily as they race out the door...Honestly thought it was your arm...he sheepishly tries...

Uh-huh...she mutters back... "Say...Who's this "Rosenberg"?...Was it that red-head?..."

"She's the witch who got Angel's soul back...Twice..." Joseph grouses at the memory...As they continued up the stairs to the ground level...

"She's not coming, I think..." Lilah looks back...Then ahead... "Joseph?...You still here...?"

"Of course...Right in front of you..." he hisses... "What?...Did you think I'd run out on you?..."

Well...she notes...It would be the Wolfram-Hart way...And as Boss, you do need to live to fight another day...

"I'm hurt, Lilah..." he frowns...Or would've if he were visible...

No offense intended...she replies...And it was nice of you not to leave me behind to slow the lady down...

Who was still showing no signs of pursuit...she looks back again...

"Well...We'd best get back upstairs and see what's to be done...Come on..." he resumes his climb...Only a few stairs this time, thank the lords of Hell...

Anne must've already escaped them...he notes, brightening...It's actually very encouraging...Opening the door to the ground floor...

Still no Willow or the others pursuing...He agrees to a brief halt at Lilah's anxious request...Feeling fit as a fiddle...he replies to her question...Rather touched by her obvious concern...Gee...And after that huge salary cut...

"Anne trapped Angel and William the Bloody in our containment cell...?" Lilah giggles at the thought...

Oh, I like this lady...she chuckles a bit...

"Yeah..." Joseph beams...Or would've... "Best not to meet her alone though until we've cut a proper deal with her...She'd tear you to pieces, if our science team's past evaluations of Ms. Summers' likely demon nature are correct...Much more impatient than Angelus or Darla..."

Very likely the most powerful, dangerous vampire ever created...If our team's theorizing was correct...he rubs his hands in glee...And done with Ms. Summers' own consent...At the hands of her...Human-souled...Lover...he chuckles evilly...

What a couple of morons...Lilah shakes her head...Hard to believe these guys defeated the First...And us...she sighs a little...

"Thank the demon gods for true love..." he grins...Or would've if...You know... "And first rate brew..."

Yikes!...Lilah grabs at the air...OW!...Poor Joseph howling as she gets him rather well in the eye...

Sorry, sorry...But...Look!...she points...

Ummn, Lilah?...he rolls his still invisible eyes...

"Sorry...Out the front window...To the left...It's Wesley...And some others..."

He peers...Hmmn...Well, hardly a disaster for us for Wyndham-Price to be commanding the legions of Light...

"Isn't that the carpenter...Alexander Harris...?" Lilah hisses...

The...Rather nice...Carpenter...a tone in her voice suggests...To her employer's slight annoyance...

"Yes...And Ms. Summers' little sister, the whining former energy ball..." Joseph notes... "Looks like the whole gang's decided to make an appearance..."

Hmmn...Even Tucker's brother's with them...he stares at Andrew, following close beside Dawn...Shaking his bald head...

A sad day for Evil...Even if the Slayer of Slayers is dead and transformed...

"Shouldn't we consider a tactical retreat?..." Lilah hopefully suggests... "They'll be letting Angel and William out...They know we're here...Somewhere..."

"Remember our new corporate motto, boss...No Risk Ourselves..." Please, she thinks...

Eh...Joseph waves an airy hand..."We'll be fine...Just hold your place, keep still, and listen...These morons are sure to spill something we or our new ally, Anne, can use...Now or in the future..."

Dat's the ticka...Anne thinks...Having used her vast mental powers to craft a solution to the predicament facing the weird sisters...Anne, Dru, and Harmony...On their arrival in Crestwood...

"We're gonna call my Gilesy...I'll get'im ta come and pic'us up..." Problem solved, a radiant and benevolent Queen Anne nods graciously to her minions...

He gonna tak' us, too?...Harmony, newly woken...By an impatient Anne...Wak' up, ya laz'...Stares...

Giles never seemed to take that much of a shine to her back in her high school days...

Ummn...Anne blinks...

"We could call a cab..." Dru suggests patiently...A reasonably hopeful alternative given what she remembered of how long it had taken a cab to come to the Sunnydale station the last time she'd traveled this line...On a weeknight, no less...

Hmmn...Anne gives her junior minion a sidelong glance...Not da craz' Dru I knew...Still, not a bad idea at that...And Giles would surely cover them for the fare...Once she used her wiles to convince him that she was indeed good ole...Souled...Buf...Jes a lil' unda da weda...And in need of her Watcher's skill and experience in dealing with Slayer aliments...

"You could have the cab drop us off just before you reached your friend's home..." Dru adds persuasively... "He'd never have to see us..."

How cum we don' wan im ta see us...? Harm ponders...I lik' Mr. Gil's...And Xanda might cum dere...Gee...she pouts...

The Queen however sees the merit of her minion's suggestion and, weighing all options carefully, makes an executive decision...

"O...K...We'll try an' calla cab...But yous get out wen I says..." Anne notes... "And you better not try anythin' Drusie..." she frowns...But settles down for a brief meditation...Punctuated by earth-shattering shores...As does Harmony...Dru watching them both carefully...Poor misbegotten dears, God have mercy on them...But even in their current states, far too hypersensitive to risk trying to get up and over them to call to a conductor or try and stop the train...

Martyrdom for its own sake was all very well but God requires there be some meaning in every sacrifice...Not to mention the innocent lives at stake...Well...

Surely an opportunity to contact Mr. Giles while they waited for the cab would arise...And if not, a dutiful, newly-cleansed handmaiden of Christ would find some way to safeguard the innocent and begin to make amends...

Part XX...

"I Love Ya...Truly..."

PG-13

Summary: With the aid of some demon brew, a little party at Angel's new offices to celebrate William's resurrection in LA gives Buffy her chance to say it and prove it...The hard way...

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Archived at the Cicelyverse page of the Buffy Rebecca verse, .

Or direct to story at .

Part XX...

LA, mid-Sunday morning...

A cautious group entered the former Wolfram-Hart tower ground level, Wesley in the lead with Xander and Kennedy just behind...Dawn and Andrew following...

If things were ok and William's communication had just been the result of a leetle too much celebration at his resurrection...A little caution never hurt and was to be commended...Even if Buffy and the guys might tease a bit at the success of their little party joke...If however, things were as bad as they could potentially be...Buffy's demon and Spike united as Evil's new dynamic duo, Angel destroyed or Angelus...Even Willow possibly lost...

Or even worse, Dawn grimly noted to Andrew, if William and Buffy were a happily married, if somewhat hung-over couple...

Caution was an absolute necessity...

Hmmn...Wesley scanned the ground floor...Really must consider hiring some weekend security as soon as our cash flow allows...Can't help but wonder if we've allowed ourselves to take on a bit too...

A moderate crashing sound from below, as if someone had stumbled over a wastebasket, followed by a faint startled yelp...Nothing too dramatic, but clearly someone or thing was present in the basement area...The group eyed each other...And looked to their new leader...

A rather pleased Wyndham-Price to at last find himself Number One...A pleasure, however, which quickly faded as he considered the situation which might face them below...

Would be rather nice to have Angel, or Buffy, or even human-souled William, (if he'd done as well in the recent struggles as Buffy had insisted in urging Angel and he to do what they could when they'd called to tell her and Willow of Wolfram-Hart's scheme to revive Spike), or Rupert on hand...

Still, trained Watcher, experienced fighter of Evil here...And above all, can't let these Yanks think a Brit can't handle the top spot...

"I think it best if we split up..." he notes... "Dawn, you and Andrew...And Xander..." the wise inclusion hastily and skillfully mitigating Dawn's building glare... "Should check round up here...While the Slayer and I check things below..."

Hmmn...Kennedy beams...The Slayer, eh...?

Holy crap...Me...?

"We should all go down..." Dawn frowns...

"It might take all of us if things are really bad..." After all, she thinks...New bride Buffy might try to hide him from us...

Dawn...Wes sighs...

"Dawny...I think we'd better let Wes run the show and do like he asks..." Xander looks at her...

"We won't do more than a quick reconnaissance, Dawn...Here and below..." Wesley explained... "Just see what we may be up against...And then we meet here and see where we should make our effort...If one is required..."

Say, perhaps to see if that effort should be a quick trip to the nearest mall for a wedding present...While one of us keeps you away from William...he thinks...

A slightly mollified Dawn nods...So long as we make the "effort" together...

And the real job could be up here...God knows Buffy the Vamp would never be stupid enough to get trapped in a basement in daylight with no safe exit...

"All right then...Crosses and weapons?..." he eyed his team...Andrew giving his most professional nod back, patting his crossbow... "Keep that thing pointed at the floor til we see something, Andy..." Dawn hisses to him...As Xander and Kennedy displayed stakes and crosses... "We'll meet back right here in fifteen minutes..." Wes announces... "And lets all be on guard...Make sure you keep Buffy or William or anyone else you encounter at a safe distance until we're sure of them..."

And remember...Best not to take offensive action against any one we know until we've confirmed they're Evil...he eyes Dawn...Who frowns...

Evil...Or stupid...she darkly groused within...

Limbo...Mid-Sunday morning, LA time...

"What do you want, Angelus...?" Buffy's disembodied spirit eyes her unwelcome companion as they float in Limbo...

"That any way to greet your old lover, girl?..." his head takes stable human form a moment then demon, then turns to mist again...

And after I came all the way here just to offer you some comfort in your loneliness...he smiles, head taking form again...

"And help you rejoice in your happiness...The happy outcome of all your toils..." he grins...Head back to demon form again... "Cicely..."

"So sorry I was that I couldn't bear the news to you before when we were...Together...Mrs. Walthrop..."

But...As Fate and the Powers That Be would have it, I only learned of your true nature after my return here and my dear counterpart's return to Earth...Via Hell...

"Still...So nice to know we kept it all in the family, eh girl?..."

"Get away from me, Angelus...Go...Or..."

He takes solid form a moment...Head to mid-torso...

"Or...? What, lass?...Tell me, I'm very curious, Buffy...Just what hideous punishment do you have in mind for my disembodied essence...?"

A staking, perhaps...? he grins...And fades...

"He's beaten you again...For good, I'm sure..." Buffy's head glares back... "You've lost your last chance, thanks to Angel and Willow..."

"Eternity..." he chuckles... Just resuming form as he finishes... "Is Mine...Cicely..."

And it's quite long enough for me to happily anticipate many opportunities for my return to Earth...

"But...This is no way for us to behave towards each other..." his human face smiling benevolently...

"The unfaithful wife and her lover, the father-creator of her husband's murderess..."

Unconsciously her face took on Cicely's form, staring at him...

Ah...Girl...he sighs...Couldn't save him, couldn't release him...Couldn't save his child...

She stares...Buffy form back...Then Cicely again...

"Couldn't your reborn self even wait long enough for him to come to you in Sunnydale...?" he sneers...

"Get out of here!..." she shrieks at him...

"Well...At least you did finally hook up with him...After me..." An Angelic smile...

And left him to die, alone..Again...

Part XXI...

"I Love Ya...Truly..."

PG-13

Summary: With the aid of some demon brew, a little party at Angel's new offices to celebrate William's resurrection in LA gives Buffy her chance to say it and prove it...The hard way...

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Archived at the Cicelyverse page of the Buffy Rebecca verse, .

Or direct to story at .

Part XXI...

LA, the former Wolfram-Hart tower, mid-Sunday morning...

Invisible, though not inaudible, Lilah Morgan and her demonic boss, senior partner Joseph flatten themselves against their respective building walls as Wesley and the old Sunnydale team members pass by...Lilah gamely suppressing a scream as Andrew steps, unnoticing, on her invisible foot...

"There a cat around here?..." he turns to Dawn...

Heard something hiss near me just now...

"Alright..." Wes pauses by the basement door... "Ms. Kennedy and I will scout the basement, the rest of you look over this floor...This is reconnaissance only, remember...Avoid any engagements if possible until we're reunited...Try to stay out of sight and call us at once if you make any sightings of Buffy, William, or Angel..."

If...Possible...Dawn glowers...As in if I don't catch sight of a ring on my idiot sis' finger...

Or she shows demon face...

Watch her, Xander...Wes' quick glance to him saying...As he and Kennedy enter the stairway...

Hmmn...My first independent outing as Slayer...she beams...

God, don't let me screw it...Please...

Willow being ok being even more important, of course...she hastily tacks to the thought...

Limbo, mid-Sunday morning, LA time...

The peace of Limbo being somewhat disturbed this particular Sunday...

Tara-Dru's spirit having returned...Angelus' pleasant Sunday torment session had taken a somewhat different turn for him...

"Aaaaahhhhhhh!" he howls...His misty head, twisting in agony, enveloped by Tara-Dru's field of crackling mystic energy as Buffy-Cicely's disembodied spirit watches with not a little satisfaction...

"I told you, sir..." Tara-Dru takes Dru form, head and shoulders, with a stern frown on her features... "What would be the consequences if I ever caught you bothering any soul here..."

"Arrrggghhh!..." Angelus' only whimpering response...

Can I do that?...Buffy wonders, watching...And expresses the thought aloud...

"Well...It takes a little natural ability...Plus you'd need some experience and practice..." Tara-Dru notes...Angelus' head now spinning in her field like a top... "Mer...rrr...ccyyy...!" his agonized cry...

"Had enough, sir?..." she eyes him, stopping his spin suddenly...

"Mercy, Dru...Please..." he whines... "It was only my nature...I can't help what I am..."

Crap...She takes Tara form... "You aren't a blood-lust crazed vampire now, and while causing pain may be your reason for existence, you have some power to choose...Like poor ole Spike when he made his decision...And gave up everything...For love..." she smiles gently at Buffy...

"If I had had a chip...Friends to help me..." Angelus began...Tara glaring, as Buffy watches...Friends...The thought passing through her mind...

Even just a friend would have helped him...Even Xander, I know, was looking to help him even when he was most ready to kill him...But I...I...While he...Even his demon...

"Even your demon essence, Dru..." Angelus tried, a gentle, pleadingly Angelic smile... "Would, were it here..."

"My counterpart is insane, thanks to you...But even she might choose a better path here...The point is, you've been freed from your blood lust, given some chance to make a choice...And you still choose this..."

And what is my demon doing down there?...Buffy now in Cicely form again, stares at Angelus as he desperately looks to her in appeal...Is she like this, a fiend tormenting my poor Will, simply because he loves us?...Or just a blindly vicious mass-killer...?...Or...

"A demon essence can only follow its nature..." Angelus tries again...

"Spike and others have overcome that nature...But in any case, I've warned you before, murderer...I have the power to make you suffer so long as you choose to inflict pain..." Tara-Dru resumes the field as he screams again...

It's my chance to serve others as I once wished to before he killed me...she explains to Buffy's floating head...And if it brings a little joy to my existence...she smiles...Well...That's ok, too...

Call it the equivalent of Spike's behavioral therapy...she grins... "Hell, you wanted something like his chip to 'help' you, right?..." she turns back to her 'patient'...Who cringes...

"Let him be...Please, Tara..." Buffy suddenly sighs... "I need to speak to him...And to hear what he has to say..." she takes Cicely form again... "I deserve to hear what he has to say..." a shamed expression...

Tara-Dru, in Tara form now, eyes her... "Are you sure, Cicely?...He only wants to hurt you, drive you to despair if he can...It's what the little animal exists for now that he can't cause physical harm..." she frowns at Angelus, released from her field and quietly watching...

"And you aren't to blame for what happened...I..."

"I let him go, Tara...I sent him away...And you, Dru...Only did what your demon did naturally...If I'd kept him near me, or at least watched over him when..." she pauses...

"You did it to protect him, Buffy...You must remember that now..." Tara tells her gently...

"Ah...The tender care of a lov..." Angelus begins...And halts in terror as Dru glares darkly at him...

"I know..." Cicely nods... "I thought I was saving him...But...I'd put him in danger in the first place...I knew it was death to him for me to take him as my lover, my husband...But I wanted to escape...I was ready to do anything, anything to flee the Slayer and everything about her...And when he came...I couldn't let him go..."

Oh, God...I let him love me...Never warned him of the danger...

"And I did nothing to protect him when he ran from the house..."

"You couldn't have..." Tara begins...

"When he rose...I was too late...I lost our baby...And when we died...And I finally came back..." she sighs...

"Sad..." Angelus sneers... "Yes, very tragic...Even one such as I can appreciate..." he hastily tries as Dru shocks him again...Arrrrgggh!...

"I told you, you sob...! Now can it...!"

"Buffy..." she turns back to her friend as Tara...

"I knew somewhere, Tara...In my heart...Almost from the moment we met in Sunnydale...but..."

I was afraid of my feelings...Even when he was there for me...When he patched my hands...And told me how he'd dreamed of saving me...And then...Every day after that...He was there...Doing whatever he could to help me, comfort me...And when he died...Again...Alone, just as he...She turns a misty head at Angelus...Now desperately restraining his urge to commentary...Said...

"I said... 'I love you'...And left him...And he didn't believe it...Cause he knew...I didn't love him...Enough..."

Tara stares at her...And smiles...Oh, Buf...

"Why are you here, Cicely?...If not to save him...If not because ya love him, kiddo..."

Cicely looks at her...

"You responded to Willow's summons, to Xander's CPR...In part cause you had unfinished business here, Buffy...You couldn't leave him behind, any more than he could let Spike flee Sunnydale...As he should've..."

Lord, girl...she takes Dru form... What more could you do?...You came back for him, time and time again...And as for being afraid...Of course you were afraid...Rightly so...

"You weren't restored with all your memories intact, Cicely...And you spared him...Time and time again...When by all Slayer reason, you should have staked him...Just as, somehow, he blocked Spike, just enough..."

Think, Buffy...How he'd've felt if Spike had killed you...? And he might've if you'd been any less on your guard...Even hovering round as he was, Will couldn't control Spike, at least until the chip and then his full restoration...But we can't blame him...

"Indeed we shan't..." Cicely hastily cut in...A slight frown...

"And likewise, you have nothing to blame yourself for..."

"Aye..." Angelus beams... "We're all guiltless in the eyes of...Arrrrrggghh!..."

The Slayer moved with quiet stealth, her heightened senses probing into the dark recesses ahead as..."OW!..." Kennedy interrupted her reverie as she stepped on a broken piece of demon brew bottle dropped by Willow earlier...

"Miss Kennedy?..." Hmmn...Must ask if that's a first or last name...Wes thought as he hurried up to her on the stairs...

And if, just perhaps, it is a last name...Ask if, perhaps, she might possibly be one of those Kennedys...

A partner in LA's hottest new law firm should extend his social contacts after all...And ought to be able to move in the highest social/political circles in the country...

"Willow?..." Kennedy happily, if hesitantly calls...

"Hey?..." a call from below...Wes turning to see Willow on the stairs, looking a bit...

Unda weda...

"Gre't ta see ya guys...Hiya..."

Willow?...Wes eyes her...She looks...Willow trips, slowly trying a stair up...

"Ok...Im o...k..." Yes, she is...

Feelin' kinda funny...Kennedy thinks, blinking as her head starts to weave a bit...Say, dat looks good...A lil' pic-um-up...She reaches for Anne's dropped unbroken bottle, set down earlier by Willow at Will's warning...

"Whoops...Lil' diz..." Willow staggers and straightens as Wes reaches her...

"We gotta lil' prob, Wes...Oh...Kenny, ma lil' hon'..." she happily sighs up the stairs to her girl, now pulling hearty at her bottle... "Goodta seeya, babe..."

"Hiya, babe...(urpppp!...Sor')" Kennedy waves back... "Hows ma sweetie...?"

Hmmn...There goes my trip to Hyannisport...Wes thinks...

"What's that?..." Dawn cried as a loud crashing sound came from a room down the hall as she, Andrew, and Xander in the lead, carefully moved across the main floor of the former Wolfram-Hart tower...

"Hiya, guys...!..." William waved as he emerged from the office next to the stairway he and Angel had just come from...In a vague hope, following Willow's finally finding the cell release button and with her making her own attempt at a move up the opposite stairs, of cornering an Anne still...Hopefully...Trapped by the daylight in the tower building...

"See..." Angel nods at his lil' vamp soul brother as Will happily turns back to him to note their rising fortunes... "It's gonna be..."

"You son of an insane murderous bitch!..." Dawn shrieks at him, pulling off from Xander's hasty attempt to hold her... "What did you do to my sister?..."

"Oh..." William's improved mood immediately fading at the confrontation with the...Hopefully, if all goes well with Buf up there in Heaven and us with Annie down here...Soon-to-be-more-or-less...Sis-in-law...

"Dawny...Dawny...I kilt ma poor lil'..."

Oops...Even smashed, Angel can see this is a bad conversational opening...And races for Will as best he can as a raging Dawn jerks up a crossbow and fires...

Crestwood Commuter Rail Station, approaching noon, Sunday...

Anne readies herself for her call to dear old Giles...Gotta use ma wiles...Be Buf allda way...

A performance as her vapidly dull human counterpart?...No problem for the new Queen of the Damned...Long as he doesn't start with the holy wa' and all dat stuf...Or suggests a brief stroll outside...Hmmn...

As Dru watches over Harmony, now sleeping quite soundly on a bench well out of any chance sunbeams...Head occasionally lolling from where Dru gently sets it back on the benchback...

Oh, no...Thank you, sir...We are getting a cab...she smiles up at a friendly station guard who pauses to inquire as to their need for local transit...

"My sister is phoning the service after she lets our friend know we're coming..." she indicates over to Anne...

"Eh..." he waves a hand... "You'll never get one out of the office on a Sunday...Let me call my cousin Jimmy, he's drives for the local guys...Just a min..."

"Very kind of you, sir..." Dru beams... "May God bless you and yours..." he nods kindly, heading for the station workers' office...

And grant me the strength to keep your poor cousin and all others safe this day...

"Heya Gil's...It's me...ya Buffy..." Anne speaks into the phone, wobbling a bit...Whoops...She grabs at the nearest wall...Bit unda weda...

"I don' feel so good...Can I cum over, huh?...Hafya check me out?...Cause I kinda think it's magicky..."

Hmmn?...

"Willum...?...Oh, he's good...Ange' got him thro aok...Got his lil' soul saf' and ever'think...It wuz no prob..." So nice of Gilesy ta ask bout my Willie...she beams at the phone...But, pressing matters... "Yeah...Ange' s good too...Deys fine...All fine...Cana cum?...Cause I'm feelin' real bad...Unda weda..."

A frown forms at Giles' puzzled reply...And question...

"Haf I been wha'? ...Me?...Drinkin'...?...Nah...Gilesy...I tole ya...I'm not feelin' sa good...Geesh... You still ma Watcha or wha'...?"

"Willa?..."she pauses...Hmmn...Oh, yeah...Willa wuz cumin to kil me...Hmmn...No, she din' know I wus Annie...Only gonna kil me if she found out...

Dru looks over to her...She gives a quick wave which nearly topples her off balance...Alls well...She turns back to the phone...

"I lef fore she came..." Another frown... "Well, we dint know she wus cummin'...And nobody wuz home when we called da furst times...So ma Will says...'Buf, ya don' look good...Maybe sumbody's using magics stuf...Ya best go see Gilesy...'...So, I goes...And here I is..."

"I needs ya, Giles..." Yeah, just a lil' of dat ole Buf whine...And mabe just a lil'a dat ole...Ya know...

Not beyond a certain safe level of course unless absolutely necessary...Annie being Evil but not unfaithful...Unless absolutely necessary...

"Ain'ya ma Wat...(urpp!...Cuse me)...cha...no more?" moving to a plaintive note...

"Thanks, Gil's...Ok, den...Im cumin'...Oh..." Dru sees her freeze a mo as a dangerous offer is made...Anne taking quick action to avert potential disaster...

"Nah, Giles...Ya don' gotta cum...I gotta cab cumin'...Ah, dat's him...Gottago, see ya in a few...Luv ya..."

Heh, heh...Stage three in the master plan of the Queen of the Damned complete...she happily thinks as she hangs up... "We have a cab coming..." Dru calls, trying not to disturb the sleeping second-in-command of the Army of Evil...

Or wuz it Stage fo'r?...Eh, wha'ever...

"I Love Ya...Truly..."

PG-13

Summary: With the aid of some demon brew, a little party at Angel's new offices to celebrate William's resurrection in LA gives Buffy her chance to say it and prove it...The hard way...

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Archived at the Cicelyverse page of the Buffy Rebecca verse, .

Or direct to story at .

Part XXII...

Limbo...High noon, Sunday, LA time...

Buffy's disembodied spirit has made a decision which somewhat alarms the soul of her friend and counterpart of her greatest enemy, Tara-Drusilla...

"I don't know if this is a good idea, Buffy..." in Tara form, her spirit eyes the watching, waiting form of Angelus...Benevolent smile plastered carefully on his floating, fading then reforming face... "To have him...It...Guide you about here?..."

"No one better to show me what I came to see, Tara...The darkest side of what my victims go through..."

"The souls aren't your victims, Buf...Better to say...You're their savior...You rescue them...Us... from that horrible link to our counterparts..."

"Yeah?..." Buffy sighs, her head shifting into Cicely form now... "I've never quite found myself fighting with that on my mind...Kill em, quick, being more like it..."

"We all must follow our natures..." Diplomatic-mode Angelus hastily grabs the opening... "There's darkness in the best..." Tara, now in Dru form stares at him coldly, he clams...Just a friendly comment, Dru...Contributing my little bit of experience...a desperate smile...

Dru waving an annoyed hand...Had enough "comment" from you to last my existence, sir...And turns to Cicely...

"But you've always known your work brings release...You're too hard on yourself, Cicely..."

"I wasn't too hard on myself when I let William die...Alone, again...In that damned crater..." she sighs...

"You knew it had to be...The First had to be stopped for good...And you knew the main job was done...You'd saved his soul...You knew, somehow, you'd find him again, on Earth or Heaven, just as long as his restored soul never fell into despair and Evil..."

And you did...Dru smiles at her...Found him again in record time, I'd say...

"And still a barrier between us...He told me that, even after I told him and he finally believed me..."

A barrier you've come to smash down...she notes..."The most direct way possible..."

God, girl...In Tara form now...If he doesn't believe you love him now...Nothing is ever gonna convince that boy...

"He loves me..." Cicely suddenly burst into tears...Angelus quickly making sympathetic noises, an eye on Tara-Dru... "After all that's...He still..."

"And you are worthy of that love, girl..." Tara's face smiles at her... "That love you've waited for for a century..."

"Sides..." she beams... "I knew nineteenth century England...Maybe you've forgotten, Cicely, but it could be a preety rough place for a young man with no connections, income, or family...He might well have ended up in some grinding, horrible place in that world...And died, after a wasted, miserable life...If you hadn't stepped into his..."

"My husband was a brilliant, industrious man..." Cicely glares at her... "Nothing would have kept him from making his way somehow...He never needed my or my family's..."

Tara grinned at her...Buffy sheepishly taking her normal form...

Sorry...

"Devoted wifey there..." Tara wagged a misty finger...

As always...she smiled...

Harmony fumed as she and Dru carefully made their way, their heavy coats and umbrellas attracting a certain degree of attention this pleasant mid-Sunday...

"Annie shulda letus come alldaway too...How cum we gotta walk da restada way?...You hadda fare, ri'?..."

"Yes, but she didn't want to us alarm Mr. Giles..." Dru calmly notes... "If you're tired...We can stop...Or I can carry you, if you like..."

"Im fine...I don' need ya to carry me...I'm the Loootenant..." Harmony waves a hand...

But she shulda letus come...

"We should hurry, Anne will be waiting for us...And disappointed in you..." Dru carefully tells her...

Hurry and reach poor Mr. Giles before a terrible crime can be committed...she thinks...

"The Loo...Tenant is reddy..." Harm gives a resolute look...stumbling over a rock...

Oh!...Dru hastily covered her with her umbrella as she fell, dropping her own...

Ow!...Harmony struggled to sitting posture as a couple of neighborhood boys came over...

"Hey, lady...?" one looks at Dru...Who gave a quick, if anxious smile...Trying to cover herself as well from the bright...Phew, cloud-now covering...midday sun...

"She's bombed, huh?..."

"My friend is ill, little one..." she smiles... "And you should be careful about talking to strangers..."

"Nice boobies..." the other boy, dark-haired and heavy-set, about fourteen, smirks at the dazed-looking Harmony...Who blinked at him...Yum...Urrp... Yum...She licks her tongue woozily, biting it...Ow!...The boys snickering... Urrrrrrrp...!...Dru quietly grabbing her own umbrella...

"Cuse..." Harm blushes...Trying to rise and assume hunting mode...With little success...As the boys hoot at her...The heavy-set one making barfing gestures...

She looks sheepishly at Dru, holding her umbrella overhead unsteadily... "Gonna get em...Jus' gimme one mo..." Struggling to rise again, she slipped...Her human audience staring at each other... "What a bimbo..." the younger, red-haired boy laughes, throwing a stick at her...

Which Dru catches in mid-air, having raced over fast enough to leave them staring in shock...

"Young men..." Dru eyes them sternly, her umbrella wagging as she speaks...A deranged, if temporarily non-lethal, Mary Poppins... "That is no way to talk to...Or about...A lady...And if I had more time..."

"Gimme a mo..." Harmony wags a finger... "I'll take em out..."

Cumere...She gestures to the nearer boy, the red-head...Who grins at his friend...

"She wants me...Bad..."

The other boy a tad less enthusiastic, seeing Dru's cold stare...

"Young men..." Dru glares... "I am a new-cleansed servant of our Lord and would never harm a child...But I have no time...And less patience for this..." Assuming work-face, she snarles at them...Harmony attempting to join in...Somewhat feebly...

"Go!...And tell your parents to learn you some manners!..." the hideous creature screamed at them...The boys ran off...Bye...Harmony waved from where she sat...OW!...She hastily shielded herself as the sun reappeared from its brief cover...

"I'll get'em...Lat'r..." she stated carefully as Dru gently helped her up...

Of course you will, dear...her companion patted her shoulder, carefully holding her umbrella over them both as Harm's wobbled...Inwardly begging the Lord's merciful forbearance in her indulging the fiend in her murderous scheming...Poor soulless, evil thing couldn't help herself after all...

And was clearly so under the weather...

Downtown Crestwood...A formerly somewhat less than desirable locale experiencing quite a boom since the Big One of 2003...And quite a degree of overcrowding...

Forcing even one who wields what some in the know might consider a rather hefty authority behind the scenes to accept rather cramped and inelegant quarters...

"Gil's!...Hey!..." Anne pounds on her Watcher's...And new Chairman of the regrouping Council's...Door...

Geesh, wha' a dump...Literally...She looks round at the battered and filthy-looking condo grounds, waiting...And dis one's gotta be the worsta dem...Eyeing the graffiti-scrawled and dented metal door...

Kinda outra...outer...awful, ya know...Ma Giles' da bes' Watch'r ina wor' and dis wha' he gets?...Well...her eyes narrow...Once Queen Anne has made her presence known in the world...And decided whether to vamp dear old Giles or no...Things would be different...Damn straight...

Even if they hada be enemieses...er enemies lat'r...She'd see the Council of Watchers' best received his due dose of respect...Mebbe let 'im win a few small ones against her min...er lower guys, kinda all on his lonesome, ya know...If she din't choose the vamp rout' fer 'im...Xanda too, mebbe...

Harm would approve of that, at least until she had her chance to kill him...

The moving sun interrupts her reverie...Ouch!...She squeezes tight against the door to her Watcher's new abode, the tiny awning above offering little protection...

"Lemme in, please...Quick...!" she pulls at the large overcoat covering her, nervously glancing from Giles' new and rather small front porch at the Sunday midday sun...Banging away...A few strolling inhabitants stare at her...Whadathe hell ya lookin' at?...she glares...Barely restraining her urge to demon-face...

"Cumon, cumon...Gil's?...Wha's holdin' ya up?...Ya gotta let me in..."

Ummn...Maybe a leetle too much urgency there...She falls back on her tried and true strategy...

"Hey, Gil's...I gotta go!..." she hisses to the door...Pounding again... "Gil's?.."

"Just a moment..." a faint call within...

The door opens partially...Sticking...A hard pull forcing it open...

"Buffy?..." he stares...A rather bleary-eyed Giles...Operating 24/7 for the past weeks on coffee and what the gang had brought over for him while he struggled to pull together the remnants of the Council and secure safe havens and some kind of support and training system for the new Slayers...

Hiya...she waves, nearly losing her balance in the process, but swiftly recovering her natural dignity like the born Queen she is... "Cana cum in?..."

LA, the ground floor of the former Wolfram-Hart tower...Now new home base of Angel Investigations and the law offices of Angel, Wyndham-Price, Gunn, and Walthrop...

Angel dives at William, knocking him down and out of the path of Dawn's whizzing crossbow arrow...Xander grabbing at Dawn as the arrow smashes into the opposite wall...

Ouch...Angel, and Wesley, just up from the basement with a staggering Willow and Kennedy in tow, look at the gash in the wall...That's not gonna be cheap...

Uneasy lie the heads that run the newest, hottest, and (almost certainly) highest-maintenance law firm in LA...

"Let me go!...He killed my sister!..." Dawn twists out of Xander's grip...

Or he married her...Or both...And any one of those options fully deserves an arrow through the heart...she thought...

Andrew carefully scooping up her crossbow...Just in case she might be tempted to do something she...And he...He eyes William...And his rather hulky companion...Might regret...

"Gimme that, Andrew!..." she screams, tearing at the bow...Whacking his arms as he struggles to hang on, Xander moving to his aid...

"Dawn!..." Angel calls up from where he is staggering back onto his feet, William standing as well... "He didn' mea' ta kill her...It wuz her i..."

Oh-oh...Now ole Xander ain't lookin' too pleased...He releases his new grip on Dawn and she resumes her tussle with Andrew...

"Her...What?..." Xander stares at the two fiends who have managed to murder his "sis"...As a startled Dawn releases the bow and Andrew goes flying across the hall...Her what!...

Not that he doubts that'll keep her down for long...Just...Big Bro Xander must follow the proper procedure in such situations...

"Wuz her id'a..." Angel puts up a hand...Hold on a sec...Gotta try and get back in broodin' leader character...Lil' difficult wha' with the brew and all...

Will now hanging his head a bit...Ready to again seek an instant ticket to Heaven at his...He eyes the raging, but now blinking Dawny...O...h...A boy's smile breaks out...

Lil' sis-in-law's hands...

Ma' lil' sis-in-law...Who wants me immediately destroyed...And probably regardless of whether Buf's vamped or no...

"Buffy wanted to be a vampire?..." Andrew looks at the tall, dark guy on the floor beside William...Rather Warrenly attractive tall, dark guy...

Hmmn...I suppose if one were the Slayer and hangs with them, killing'em like flies...Sooner or later one must get curious about their lifestyle...

Part XXIII...

"I Love Ya...Truly..."

PG-13

Summary: With the aid of some demon brew, a little party at Angel's new offices to celebrate William's resurrection in LA gives Buffy her chance to say it and prove it...The hard way...

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Archived at the Cicelyverse page of the Buffy Rebecca verse, .

Or direct to story at .

Part XXIII...

LA, the ground floor of the new offices of Angel, Wyndham-Price, Gunn, and Walthrop in the former Wolfram-Hart tower...

"Hey, stoppit, Dawnie...!" Willow called over to Dawn as Wesley came to Andrew's assistance, Dawn having recovered from her momentary shock and dead set on continuing her effort, again grabbing for the crossbow, now locked firmly in Andy's crossed-arm grip...

"Andrew..." she grimly hisses as he stares back...Solemnly...Shaking his head slowly, then staring again...No...

Such deep eyes he has the thought briefly crossed her mind...And, really kinda brave in his way now he's reformed...What a shame...

Ummn...she blinks...Resuming glare... "Give me..." she begins...

"I's ok, Dawnie...I'm gonna kil' 'em both lat'r if theys liars..." Willow addes helpfully...Waving a hand...

Kennedy making an effort to support her honey...On her wobbling feet as well as verbally...

"Willa's got it all...Set..." she nods in agreement...

"Yeah...Hey Xanda?.." Problem solved, Willow turned to other matters... "You wanta make out afta we kill the bad guys?...Er gurl...?" Kennedy blinked... "I's ok..." Willow pats her...

"Jes wanta makim feel good...He been so sad..." her honey explained...As the others stare...

Hmmn...Wes nodded...Yes...I think I begin to see what happened here...

"We gotta stop Annie!..." Angel tries to reassert authority and set things on proper track...Yeah, that's the ticket, get em back on track...Whichever of the dozen or so he sees floating round his head is the right one...

"Annie...? Who the hell's..." Dawn looks over at the stupid doofus who'd helped that little blonde slimeball murder...Her little blonde moron of a sis...Xander glaring as well...

"Dat's Buf now, I think..." Willow helpfully puts in...

Annie?...Nice name for a demon counterpart...Wes and Andy think...

Crestwood...Giles' new condo complex...

"Sos?...It's der?..." Harmony points vaguely from under her umbrella at the first building she sees...

"Hmmn...No, dear...I think it's further back..." Dru eyes the list of tenant names on the phone box by a long-nonfunctional gate...

"Wha dump..." Harm looks round... Indeed, rather poor lodgings for Mr. Giles...Him being the new Chairman of that Watchers' Council...Dru nods in agreement...

We go that way...she points...

"Hok...Loooten'nt Harmony's reddy..." Harm raises her umbrella and turns... "Les go..." she reasserts a measure of authority...And staggers off, Dru hastily following with a sigh...Smiling kindly at a few bystanders...

"Dis...?" Harmony eyes the door...Where things seem distressingly quiet, Dru notes...Perhaps they're too late to save poor Mr. Giles?...

Well, in any case, now that they're alone for the moment, time to prevent poor dear Harmony from doing something her poor soul might regret...

She applied gentle pressure on the Lieutenant's neck at spots Spike had once showed her and her companion collapsed...

Carefully propping Harmony by her side to a reasonable approximation of standing, for the benefit of any passers-by, she knocked at the door with one hand, umbrella and Lieutenant Harmony of Anne's Army of Evil in the other...

"Mr. Giles...?" she called a bit anxiously...

LA...Ground floor of the offices of Angel, Wyndham-Price, Gunn, and Walthrop...

"Angel?..." Wes eyes his somewhat incapacitated leader... "Where do you think this 'Anne' might have gone...It's clear she's left the building somehow, even with the daylight..."

Well...Angel focuses his vast experience and natural wisdom...Plus his extensive knowledge of Buffy and her ways...As do the others...To what extent they can...

"I dunno..."

"I bet she's gone off ta find some help..." Will notes... "Betcha it's Drusie..."

To Dru...? Dawn eyes him...Buffy and Dru?...

"Bes' kil'r in LA..." he nods... "And Buf's learn'd ta make usea her command skills..."

Joseph?...Invisible Lilah whispers from a wall to the far side of the group...

I don't know...he gives a faint hiss, noting Angel staring their way briefly...Quiet...

Willow's phone buzzes...

"Hey?...Hiya, Gil's...Hey, fellas...It's..." Willow calls happily...

Whoa...she blinks at the phone...You don't say?...

"Hot damn!...He's gott'r...!" she gives a wobbly thumbs-up...

"Don' wor' Gil's...We knows al...l...'bout it..."

"Got'r...?" Will and Angel stare...

"Ya, we're here in LA...At Ang'l new place...God, i's neat, Gil's..."

"Got who?..." Dawn looks over...

"Annie...Gil's got her..." a happy, if staggering Willow...She tries a high-five with Kennedy...Fortunately missing as Kennedy forgot her new superstrength...

Well...Angel beams at Wes...Another notch for Angel Investigations...

In a manna of spekin'...

"How the hell...?" Xander stares...Willow waving an impatient hand...Jes' a min...Lemme talk...

Holy shit...Joseph sighs quietly from his spot against the far wall...Not again...Not so soon...Lilah instinctively trying to give a comforting pat...Nothing...Well, it's the thought that counts...

"Gil's?..." Willow continues... "The guys wanna...Wha?...Oh...h...Yeah, I guess I hadda lil' dropa...Wha?..."

Wha?...Dru?...she blinks... "O...K...Hang on...I'm gonna cum ri' ov'r...Bye..."

Dru?...Angel looks at William who nods...Jes' as I figured...

"Drusilla?...Wil, what's...?" Xander began...

"Willow?.." Wes calls, hurrying over...William, Angel, and the others following...

"Dru's der...I betta go..." Willow gives a wave...Nothing...Hmmn...

Jes a min...Gotta conc...

"Willow, wait!..." Wes reaches her just as she vanishes...

Crestwood...The new Chairman of the re-established Royal Council of Librarians and Library Scientists' condo living room...

AHHHHHHHHHH!...A harsh, frustrated cry...From the blonde, slight, hideously evil-faced creature now looking up from where she'd been pinioned to the floor of Giles' condo by a strong energy field...

Giles sighed, holding his phone to his ear as he stared at the remains of the only daughter of sorts...Not ever wishing to hurt poor Dawn, but he would never quite be able to see her in the same light...He'd ever have...

The demon counterpart he'd every day expected to meet, one day, from the moment he'd first come to take poor Buffy in hand, years ago...Some days perhaps more than others...and with less expectation as the passing years had made her abilities and potential for survival clear...

But for the second time, her first death at the Master's hands having been fortunately too brief to allow for mourning her...The day had come at last...

"Willow?...Giles here...Willow, Buffy is here...In vampiral state, I'm afraid ...I've contained her for the moment, but..."

Willow?...

...HHHHHHHH!...Anne continued her yell on the floor...A mix of anger, rage, and some considerable embarrassment...Demmit, Gil's?...Howda hell'd ya know so quick?...All her Buf practice and that effort in getting her lovely new suit...Wasted...

"You...Know about it?...Willow?...Are you in Los Angeles yet?..."

Anne tried rolling within the field...Demmit no good...

"Have you been drinking...?" Giles asked the phone...

Anne tried a hard lunge up...OW!...she fell back...

"Stop it, Buffy!...You'll only injure yourself..." Giles called to her as she relaxed a bit...Staring up at him...Hmmn...Mebbe the good ole way...She resumed human face and a slight pout...

"Gil's?...Wha' da hell ya doin'?...I's me..." she began tearing up...

Frowning, Giles moved the phone just as Dru started politely rapping at the front door...

"Mr. Giles?...I must speak with you...!"

"Please forgive me!..." she called as she tore the door open...

"It's a very urg...!..." she paused to see Anne struggling on the floor...Oh, my...

"Mr. Giles?..." she stood at the door, blocked by the barrier in place there...

"Drusilla?..." he gasped...And what looked like an unconscious Harmony beside her, Dru carefully trying to maintain umbrella cover over the two of them...

"Dru...?..." Willow's startled voice came over the phone... "Yes, it's Drusilla..." he told the phone...Staring...Not quite hearing Willow's offer of immediate aid...

Yes...But...Dru put up a hand... "It is not what you think, sir...I am not what I was..."

Indeed...? he stared...As a blue light flashed in the room and Willow appeared in mid-air, over the trapped Anne...And fell onto her, disrupting Giles' containment field...

"Willow...?"

Hiya!...she waved...Coming to a sitting position, blinking at Giles...

Made it, she thought happily...Jes' lik' I told Willum...I can getid up anytime I wanna...

"Dis Anne?..." she indicated the sprawled flat body underneath her, KO'd by the impact of her friend's body and the field disruption...

Part XXIV...

"I Love Ya...Truly..."

PG-13

Summary: With the aid of some demon brew, a little party at Angel's new offices to celebrate William's resurrection in LA gives Buffy her chance to say it and prove it...The hard way...

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Archived at the Cicelyverse page of the Buffy Rebecca verse, .

Or direct to story at .

Part XXIV...

The misty reaches of Limbo...Sunday afternoon...

A rather surprisingly enthusiastic Angelus was happily engaged in giving Buffy's disembodied spirit the Grand Tour...Wisely for the moment refraining from the sort of commentary that might produce a return of Tara-Drusilla's spirit...

After all, the agony of those trapped in Limbo while their darker selves act on Earth speaks for itself...

Though he saw no reason, Buffy having requested this little excursion herself, the little fool, not to direct the tour past those whose particular sufferings might resonate best...

It being his assignment...And a source of great personal satisfaction...To attempt to drive the soul which had rendered itself so vulnerable, the soul of the Greatest of the Slayers, twice over...Buffy Anne Summers and Cicely Anne Walthrop, nee Addams...To despair and destruction...Or at least, permanent retirement in Heaven...

"Angelus...?" Buffy's head took form as they proceeded through the mist... "You ought to be able to feel the increase in warmth from the souls clustered about here..." Angelus points out pleasantly, in disembodied voice... "Yes?..." his head appears...

"Why are you..." she pauses...The real question hesitating on her misty lips... "Is...?"

"Is Spike here as well...?" he fills in...She was silent...

"Travel here...Is a privilege..." he notes, some pride in his voice... "Spike is not very popular with the Darkness now...They don't view noble self-sacrifice in the same light as you humans..."

Perhaps I could carry a message back to comfort him in his grim and Eternal sufferings...A bright smile...

"A love note...To let him know he was always the one?...After his counterpart, Parker, me, Riley..."

"Would you like Tara back to spend some quality time with her demon's 'dad'...?"

Ummn...

"You asked for my guidance..." he points out... "I don't work free, Cicely...And since money, blood...And sex..." he smiles... "Are meaningless here..."

"I'm surprised they let you out...Here..." she frowns... "I'd think two recent comeback flops with Angel would get you in a bit of hot water...And brimstone..."

"I made the most of my time...They appreciate effort..." he smiles... "Besides they know my counterpart hovers on the brink of destruction at the best of times...A single nudge and I'm on my way...So I may as well be in the afterlife equivalent of the 'ready room'..."

But I'm just glad I could be here to catch up with my old friend...And ex-...

"Angel...Never you, pal..."

"But I am Angel, dearest...As much a part of ole Liam as he...And as Anne is of you..."

"So..." she grins... "Then Spike...Like my William...Was unique..."

I thought so...Thanks...she beamed at the head of a slightly frowning Angelus...

"He's hardly the first of us to lose his head...Or existence...Over a silly human..."

Then...she hesitates... "There are others?...Like Will?..."

Souls bound to their demons, suffering in agony as they follow in their own personal monster's wake, unable to find rest...? he suggests...

"Oh, yeah..." he grins...And as a matter of fact...

"I believe we're near to meeting up with an old friend of yours...Ah, there she is..." he notes, sensing a manifestation...

"You...?" a voice drifts over...A voice strangely altered by agony and suffering, but one Buffy recognizes...

"Buffy?...Why?...Why did you abandon me...?..." a sad cry... "You were the Slayer...My own classmate...How could you leave me like that...?"

"Harmony..." Buffy gasps as Harm's sad, shattered face appears...

"Why do you leave me like this?...Buffy...?" the face sobs... "It killed my gram...My brother...Friends..."

And a lot of folks I never knew...But they seemed kinda nice...she notes...

"I wasn't the nicest person, I know that...But...Whatever stupid stuff I did back there...I don't deserve this...How could you let it exist, roam?...Buffy, you laughed at It...At me...While I'm here, watching It...Knowing It's me..."

"Harmony, I'm sorry...I've meant to..."

"You never even tried...Even when you could've easily tracked It down...It was a joke to you...All of you...I saw...Through It's eyes..."

"She...It...'s in LA now...I was tied down in Sunnydale..."

"Not even Angel bothers to kill It...No one cares..." Harmony stared at her...

"Buffy...I died before my life really began...And even that I could bear...But this...Horror...That never ends, no matter how I try to stop It...Or hide from It...I see It...Free...Hurting, killing..."

Maybe not on Angelus' scale...she noted...He gave a slight nod of appreciation...But then so few could match his record...He wisely refrained from mentioning aloud...

"You think I deserved this?..." her voice sincerely questioning as much as bitter... "What did I do that deserved this?...Tell me...?"

"Nothing, Harm, nothing...And I swear, when I get back..."

"No one will ever care..." Harmony shakes her head... "I'll be here...Watching It...Watching people treat It like a joke, while It tortures and kills anyone It can...Forever..."

"Harmony, I will..I swear..."

"They all hate me now...My family...The only ones who ever cared for me..." she's silent a moment... "I never killed anyone, I never did more than what millions of young girls who are terrified they won't amount to much outside their looks did...Why me, Buffy?...And why won't anyone help me...?"

"I will Harm...I promise..."

"You're dead too, Buffy..." she sighs...Her face swirling into a cloud... "And God won't listen...No..." she gasps suddenly, her voice tensing with fear... "No, no!...Oh! Mama!...Ma!... Daddy!...Help me!...Don't let It!...Help me, I'm afraid!...Oh, please...Please!..." she faded into a heavy mist that Buffy realized somehow was formed of tears... "Help me!...Oh...Buffy..."

"Harmony...Harmony!..." she calls...

Angelus quietly standing by, in a matter of sorts...Carefully concealing his delight...

And that's just one of the less sympathetic pathetic little whiners...he thinks happily...

Crestwood...Giles' new condo living room...

Sunday...Early afternoon...

"...Let me understand this, Willow..." And given your present condition, it's not easy, he politely did not say... "You say..." the new Chairman stares at a woozily beaming Willow, now seated on his sofa...Ready for her part to blearily begin victory celebrations...Especially if Ang'l got anymor' o'da swell brew...Dat wus da best... "That William's resurrection was a success...Angel was able to prevent his demon's return with our blocking spell..." She nods eagerly...Yep... "But that last night they were exposed to a demon brew, planted by unknown enemies...?" Absoultootly, she nods, nearly falling off the sofa while glancing quickly at the still unconscious Anne, now secured as well as possible with rope and handcuffs...Giles having earlier noted that 'be prepared' was a motto not confined to the Boy Scouts to Willow's "whydya got dose?..." as she'd eyed the cuffs...

No need to explain that it'd been Olivia's last night before she returned to England..

"And Buffy was exposed shortly after she reached them...With the result that she requested the chance to undergo vampiral transformation...Both to prove her love to William and to better understand what her victims undergo?..."

"Oh...That is so..." Dru sighs from where she stands in Giles' open doorway...Very sorry about tearing off the door, sir...I truly thought it necessary to save you...she'd apologetically noted after her initial greeting...Holding the still unconscious Harmony up by her side...

Yeah...Willow nods...And I wuz thinkin' Buf wuz gettin' kinda col' hart'd...she shakes her head...

"And..." Hmmn...Even in her inebriated state, Willow catches the sharp, cold tone in the Watcher's voice... "Dear William was only too willing to oblige...?" He stars at Anne, sprawled on the floor...

Ummn...Well, see Gil's...she begins... "He din't wanna do it, he says...But her soul told 'em...Him and Ang'l...I tole ya Ang'l' s dere, ri'?...Yeah, he's dere...Buf's soul tol' em...I's ok..."

And I'm gonna kil 'em both if it don' wok out...Sos it'll be...O...K...she nods happily...

"I see...And just how will it be...OK?...With Buffy dead and her soul gone...?"

"Eh..." a quick hand wave... "We done that one coupla times...Jes' gotta do a recall...Mebbe somethin' special to do da human bit...No prob..."

"That's wonderful, Ms. Rosenberg..." Drusilla beams...Ummn...As Giles casts a quick hard stare...

"I'm sure it will work out...Love must triumph in the end..." she notes quickly...

Yep...Willow nods to Dru...Nice kid really with a belt or two of that brew in her... "N...o...Prob..."

Ri', Gil's?...she looks over...

"I means when I get me power back...Ya said it shouldn't be long for the field I fell on to wor' off...?"

"Yes...About a hour, I'd guess...Well..." Giles sighs... "First things first...We must get Anne properly secured and see if anything can be done to clear the effects of the demon brew on you, Willow..."

Unfortunately, acting on Wesley's suggestion that we come to LA is difficult as I can't use magics for some time either...So restoring the dampening field around Anne is not an option for the moment...he eyes her...

"Sor'..." Willow bites a lip... "Mebbe we should jes' drive dere...Take along a bottle...?" Beer preferably, she thinks... "An' hit her ov'r da head if she wakes up on da way...?"

Hmmn...

"Perhaps I could assist?..." Dru suggests pleasantly from the doorway...

"Actually..." Giles eyes her...

"Hey, Dru...I saw Tar', ya soul...She says hi...So long as ya nice..." Willow calls...

LA...The basement of the new offices of Angel, Wyndham-Price, Gunn, and Walthrop...

Early afternoon...

Wesley had managed to get the gang, including the inebriated members back down to the basement containment room to review the situation...Which for the moment, based on Giles' last call seemed quite promising...

Meanwhile on the ground floor...

"That bathroom..." Invisible Joseph hisses to his invisible...And hopefully still beside him...Employee/Mission partner, Lilah... "But they're..." she begins in a whisper... "sh...sh" he uselessly puts up a hand as well... "Angel...William..."

Bombed or no, still supersensitive vamps...And Angel had already heard them, though too unsure courtesy brew to fully heed those senses...Lilah gets the point...And follows...

The ladies room door cracks open twice...As if by itself...

"Ok...But keep it down..." Joseph whispers...

"Please get off my foot...Boss..." she hisses back...Sorry...he pulls back...

"What do we do now?...They've already captured her..."

"She's not alive yet by a long shot..." Joseph clearly not willing to let this one...The best thing to happen to Evil in years...Go without a fight...However feeble...

It's what make him so lova...er Commanding...Lilah thinks...That blind refusal to say die...Even long after death...

"They're bringing her here...The new Watcher Chairman and Miss Rosenberg...An incapacitated Miss Rosenberg, if we heard right..." Hmmn... "Perhaps there's a chance in that...If we could alert the boys..."

Those upper level management clowns?...Lilah thought...They couldn't outwit little Dawn Summers...Let alone this Giles fellow...

Hmmn...Rupert Giles...New Council Chairman...Handsome...And powerful Rupert Giles...

Who no doubt could use a capable, driven mate to help him organize the fight against Evil...And perhaps, with a little careful persuasion...? To rule the world via his Slayers...?

Well...she listened to poor Joseph, still muttering as he pondered the situation...Nah...

Damn it, she blinked at herself...What the hell's wrong with me?...I'm Lilah Morgan, devoted solely to my ambition and pursuit of power and wealth...And occasional great sex...I'm not bound to any side...

Well, there is that old Hell contract...But Joe let me out of it in exchange for my 98% pay cut...

"Lets get outside by the main entrance...I'll call HQ from the payphone out there...Maybe between us here and the fellas...Something can still be done..."

I'm acting like a... "Lilah?...Ready to go?..."

"Yeah..." Aw, hell...How can I run out on the poor little guy after all he's been though?...Sides he'd hunt me down and kill me, even without a Hell contract...

It's that damned lova...er commendable grit of his...

In the basement, Mission Commander and number two legal partner Wyndham-Price had taken things well in hand...Despite some minor peeving by temporarily incapacitated number one, Angel...

Gunn and Fred alerted and called in...Albeit both currently unreachable owing to their respective trips home to spread the news of their sudden jumps up the corporate ladder...

Contact made with Chairman Giles...Now reluctantly enlisting the help of a very willing Drusilla to get a sedated Anne safely to LA...In the company of a rather spacey Willow and unconscious...At Dru's pleading request 'We can't leave the poor thing alone like this, please sir'...Harmony...

Andrew and Xander sent with an eager if wobbily William to scour the building in case Angel's concerns about voices heard was legit...

And preparations underway to analyze the cause of the trouble...

Unfortunately, Wes had made his first tactical mistake in the choice of those dispatched to bring over samples for testing...Believing that surely, nothing could happen with the brew only being across the hall in the other office's refrigerator...

"Kennedy...Will you stop that?...Put that stuff down..." Dawn glares... "We're supposed to bring it over to Wes for analysis...

"Jes wanna lil' one..."

"You know it's cursed...Don't..." she frowns and grabs at the now open bottle as Kennedy lifts the highly addictive brew toward her lips...

Oops...Sorry...Kennedy eyes the spattered Dawn...most of the open bottle's contents now on her...

"Thanks..." Dawn frowns...Silly fool of a demon brew intoxicated Slayer...

"Please try to be careful with this, Kennedy...We have to know the contents of the brew and study what mystical energy fields may be associated with it..."

Nice as it might be to imbibe a few ounces...she notes, eyeing the bottles...

Oh...Sor'...Say...Kennedy looks at her... "Mebbe yous should wipe dat stuff off...?"

"I'm afraid it's too late..." Dawn shakes her head... "I sense I've already been affected..."

A returned Andrew comes over... "Dawn, Mr. Wyndham-Price says to bring that..."

Andrew...Dawn beams... "Why thank you for coming to tell us..." she smiles gently at him...

Oh!... "Thank God you're safe, Andrew...Everything was all right upstairs?..."

Ummn?...Yeah... "Dawn...Why are you all wet?..."

"I'm afraid we've had a little accident...And I've been exposed..."she sighs...As he stares at her...

But the effect doesn't seem quite the same with me...she notes...Unless skin exposure and what little I ingested was too little to induce a significant result...

Kennedy looks at Andrew...She's talkin' awful funny...

Ummn...Dawn smiles again at dear, sweet Andrew...Nobly redeemed, courageous Andrew...All the more so for being simply human, not some supernatural, mystically energized buffoon... "Maybe..." she hesitates...

"Maybe it would help if you wiped me off...Thoroughly...With a wet paper towel?...Could you get me one from the bathroom there?...I'll change if we can find something..."

He nodded and went into the bathroom...Dawn watching him as he did...

"Such a kind, sweet guy..." she notea to Kennedy... "And rather attractive, don't you think?..."

Well...I mean...she paused...If you were of my persuasion...

"Andrew, bring a lota towels!..." Kennedy calls...

Please do...Dawn sighs...

Part XXV...

"I Love Ya...Truly..."

PG-13

Summary: With the aid of some demon brew, a little party at Angel's new offices to celebrate William's resurrection in LA gives Buffy her chance to say it and prove it...The hard way...

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Archived at the Cicelyverse page of the Buffy Rebecca verse, .

Or direct to story at .

Part XXV...

"Well...Right...Are we secure?..." Giles eyes his companions now variously sitting or stretched out on the floor of his new minivan...A necessity for a Chairman forced to spend much of his time now transporting multiple new Slayers at a time to various training sessions, transit centers, encounter groups, Mall shopping sprees...

"Yes, very well, thank you..." Drusilla nods from her seat...

"Fine...hic...Cuse...Gil's..." Willow calls...

"Anne and Harmony are secure as well, sir..." Dru notes...Looking over her two unconscious fellow vampiresses...Both handcuffed and bound with rope...

"Is Willow wearing her seat belt, Drusilla?..." he looks back at them...

"Hey..." Willow grouses... "Im fine...Got it all covered..."

"Indeed you do..." Dru smiles kindly... "She's fine, Mr. Giles..."

Amazing...He shook his head as he turned back to view the driveway and set out...I really must have that demonic brew analyzed...

"Drusie...I tol' ya Tara ya soul said hi...?" Willow looked at her as they headed out...

"Indeed you did, Miss Rosenberg...And it was very kind of you...And her...I only hope I can continue to be worthy of your kindness and some degree of trust until our task is complete..."

Yeah?... Willow stares... "Den wha?...You gonna go be evil again?..."

"It's my hope..." Dru pauses...Glancing at her charges...Ah, still quiet... "That you good people...And the Slayer...Will prevent that...By whatever means necessary..."

Sur...Willow nods...Waving a hand...

"But until that time...I also hope to do what good...Make what amends...I can..." she continues... "Though I trust you will try to remain on guard around me...In case the evil should regain a hold on me..."

"No prob...I gotta stake ri' here..." Willow pats her coat... "And ma magics'll be back up anytime now..."

"Please keep a careful watch on our guests, ladies..." Giles calls back...Yes, sir...Dru calls back...

"Miss Rosenberg?..." she askes, a bit hesitant...Ye...p...Willow turns to her...Head weaving a bit...

"Was my poor soul very unhappy?...When you encountered her?..."

Nah...Willow shakes her head... "She wuz fine...Heaven was treatin' her ri'...And she was real prouda ya, Dru..." A kind, if wobbily beam...Y...ep...Real proud...

"Yous a reg'lar Spike, I'd say...I mean afta he got the chip and all...Before Will the soul cum back all da way..."

"Thank you, miss..." she smiles shyly... "I only wish I could take credit for what's happened to me as poor Spike can..."

Well...Willow eyes her... "Chip...Love...Demmin booze...Whasit madda?...Ya couldn't hep whaya wer...And ya coulda just gone off and done nuthin' for nobody...Ri', Gil's?..." she calls...

Absolutely...he replies... "And we are grateful, Miss Drusilla..."

"Reg'lar chipped Spike...Jes lik I'd 'pect ma Tar' demmin ta be..." Willow nods...

The van pulls to a curb...Giles honking...

"Mr. Giles...?" Two Slayers-in-Training, waiting by the curb, hurried over...One a tall red-headed American in gym clothes, the other a tall blonde English girl in blouse and slacks...Drusilla opening the side door...Hello...she beams...Raising her umbrella against the early afternoon sun...Hiya...Willow waves...

"Brenda, Allyson..." the Chairman nods at them from his seat... "I appreciate you're giving up your Sunday to assist us in this...But, please...We must hurry..." Yes, sir...they nods...Climbing in and taking seats...

"Is that...?" Brenda, the English blonde looks down at Anne...Still unconscious next to Harmony...

"No...It is not..." Giles replies carefully... "And you must be prepared to fight it if the demon awakens...No matter what it may do or say it is not Buffy Summers..."

O...K...Allyson nods...Looking over at Dru...

"And you're...Drusilla...?" she stares... "I've heard lots about you...

I'm afraid so...Dru sighs...

"But Drusie's tryin' ta hep..." Willow notes...Reaching to pat her hand...Missing...But the intention was appreciated...

"Drusilla is operating under the effects of the powerful elixir I mentioned in my call...Which is affecting Miss Rosenberg as well...In a different way..." Giles explained... "We believe she is sincere in her efforts..."

"But you must watch me carefully in case I should regress..." Dru finishes...Smiling gently at the new Chairman... "And please, don't hesitate to destroy me if you have the slightest doubt...You will only be doing what I would want..."

"Are we going to be able to help the Slayer?..." Brenda asks, Allyson staring at the smiling Dru...As Giles pulls out...

"Certainly..."Dru nods firmly... "God will not permit Miss Summers to be lost to you...Or to poor Mr. Walthrop..."

Spike...Willow explained to the puzzled Slayers...Dat's...hic...his name...Hic...Urp...

"Cuse me..."

LA...A payphone about one block from the new offices of Angel, Wyndham-Price, Gunn, and Walthrop...Well out of view from the tower building...

"What we need!..." A once again visible Joseph shouted into the rather battered phone... "Is to intercept the Council Chairman before he reaches our old offices with our ally...!"

Like those remaining clowns of ours could 'intercept' a paper boy on his bike...A likewise visible Lilah beside him, groused to herself...

"I want a total mobilization of our remaining forces!...Rupert Giles and anyone with him must be stopped!...And our Anne freed..."

Hmmn...What happened to our new company policy?... 'No Risk Ourselves'?...Lilah sighed...Such a fine concept it was...

C'mon guys...he told the phone, obviously the boys back at HQ asking the same question... "After all the recent failures, we can't let this one success be lost for want of a little courage and daring!...And it's not like this Giles has an army with him...So far as we know all he's got is Miss Rosenberg..."

Yeah, yeah...he sighed...The super-witch/goddess...But she's under the influence of our brew...

"Joseph?..." Lilah hissed... "Remind them that it's daylight...No good if they get her and let her burn to death...Or whatever..."

Right...he eyed her...Good thinking, Lilah...he gave a kind pat...Returning to the conversation..."Fred, do whatever you have to...But, remember don't expose Anne to daylight...Ok?...Good..." he frowned suddenly...

"Well, tell those lazy demonic bastards that if they still want a free ride on our ticket they'd better be in on this one!...And if they won't help out...They're fired!...Once and for all!..."

"Ok...Lilah and I will stand by here at the office building...I'll be in touch...And remember, Fred...We are Wolfram-Hart!..."

Gotta love that never-say-the-Apocalypse-will-never-happen spirit...Lilah sighed inwardly...Hope the boys at least make a half-decent effort for his sake...

Part XXVI...

"I Love Ya...Truly..."

PG-13

Summary: With the aid of some demon brew, a little party at Angel's new offices to celebrate William's resurrection in LA gives Buffy her chance to say it and prove it...The hard way...

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Archived at the Cicelyverse page of the Buffy Rebecca verse, .

Or direct to story at .

Part XXVI...

LA...The basement room of the former Wolfram-Hart office tower containing the containment cell which had utterly failed to contain Anne, Buffy's fiendishly demonic, if fortunately currently plastered by demonic brew, counterpart...

"So as I'm sure you've already realized, Wesley..." Dawn diplomatically deferring to the team leader as she continued her report, standing by the room's computer workstation...As Wesley, Xander, William, and Andrew look at each other...I thought you just asked her to look up 'demon brew' on the search generator?...Andrew hisses to a shrugging Wes...While Angel stared at the screen...Whoa...Lota big words...Latin...Which I knows from school bak in ole Eireyland...he notes to William... "And if you have a look here...You'll see the confirmation in the biochemical data..." she indicated the Advanced Metaphysics and Biological Applications website page she'd just pulled up...Column two...she helpfully pointed out... "If I may sum up..." Kindly noting the glazed look on the three remaining unaffected team members... "The three likely formulations of the elixir involved here are quite unstable... Inevitably affected in unpredictable ways by any mystic or electromagnetic forces on or about the person of the individual exposed..."

"In my own case...My Key nature is clearly inducing an effect different to that seen in..." she eyes a wobbily William and an Angel desperately trying to follow her lecture and maintain the look of a brooding leader...Difficult as he keeps starting to pass out right after reaching the narrowing of the eyes stage...Not to mention his own wobble... "Our dear gentlemen...and..." she eyes a bleary-eyed blinking Kennedy...Trying to hold her head up...I gotta go home...The Slayer notes to Andrew, sitting beside her, as she had been doing at intervals for the past thirty minutes...

"Our Slayer..." Dawn finishes...

"I wanna go home to Loooong Liland...Cans yous fix it sos I can go home?..." Kennedy stares at Andrew... "I wanna see my ma and ma pa..Hic...And Nana...And Unka Frank...And all da other guys...Hows come I can't go see Ma and Pa and Unka Frank...?"...She takes the nice man's hand...He'd surely help her get home...

Ummn...Xander?...Andrew looks round...Dawn giving a rather narrow stare at Kennedy and her offensive hand after pausing in her presentation...

Hey, Kennedy...Xander sits beside her, patting a hand...She turning to him now...But keeping a grip on Andrew...Dawn's stare turning to full glare...

"I wanna...Hic...Go home..." Kennedy explaines to the other nice...Real nice, she notes, looking him over with a wavering stare...Guy who'd come to help her...Andrew having got his hand free, Dawn dropped glare and requested his assist with a winning smile...

If he wouldn't mind...

"Wanna go home and see my doggie, Mike...Ya wanna see his pica?...Oh, gee...I don't got my picas...I lef 'em back dere..." Kennedy sighed to Xander... "And dere's my fiancee, Nicalous...ummn Nick...He's at home too..." Whoops...Xander stares at Wesley...Fiancee?... "But I don' like him so much now...I like Willa..." she smiles at Xander, leaning to his ear, waving him in for a whisper... "My ma and pa don' know I'm gay..."

But I still miss 'em...She shakes her head sadly...I wanna go home...she starts to tear up...Xander desperately trying another round of patting...

"Well...Dawn..." Wes stares at the computer screen... "It's very nice of you to help us out with this but..."

"Don't be a sexist putz, Wyndham-Price..." she frowns at him, rather peeved by his 'thanks, little Dawnie' air... "Or a Watcher elitist...I know what I'm doing...And you're being foolish if you spurn my help..."

"After all...This is the first solid clue as regards the formulation you or anyone has come up with since the start of this whole sorry affair..." she points out...

Hmmn...She has got me there...Wes sighed to himself...

"Andrew?..." Dawn hastily returned to her courageously noble redeemed hero...Who had not, naturally, being a generous soul of depth and tolerance, displayed any similar disappointing attitude... "Would you mind giving me a hand here?..."

"This computer is so hard for me to shut down properly..." An innocent smile... "Xander can watch our inebriated Slayer..." she notes...

"I miss my Ma...Ooooh! Ma!..." Kennedy burst into tears, head buried in kindly Xander's arm...Who patted her yet again...Anoda por' Slayer girl...William noted to his vamp soul brother... "Des' got such a tough life..." he sighs... "And dey cana..." He pauses, blinking...

Wonder wha' my Ma is doing now?...Angel sadly ponders, watching poor Kennedy sob...Ashamed to go outta her Heavenly place causa me...Her no good son...

Oh, Lord...William thinks...That's it...Cicely was a Slayer...Dat's why...

Andrew clicked the shutdown button with the computer's mouse... "Oh..." Dawn beamed, hand on his arm... "So that's how it's done...I never would've guessed...Oh, thank you, Andy... " she gave him a quick peck on the cheek...As Xander eyed Wes...A glare of his own forming...

"Ma poor lil' Cicely...She was protectin' me..."Will shook his head... "She musta been a Slayer den, Ang'l...Dat's why she said I stunk...She was 'fraid I'd be kilt...Protectin' me..."

Not very well, course...But it's the thought dat counts...He notes to Angel...Who continues to ponder his poor sainted ma's fate...While absently nodding support to his lil' vamp soul brother...

"And this is for all your help with my little accident back there..." Another shy Dawn peck as Andrew blinks, temporarily paralyzed by shock...

"And for all you did to help my sis and us with the First..." She grabs him in a tight embrace...Major lip lock...Andrew stumbling back as she holds on with grip worthy of her Slayer sis...

"Dawn!..." Xander hops up, a dark look at Andrew...Gently moving his arm from the still sobbing homesick Kennedy...As Dawn reluctantly releases her nobly redeemed Prince of a feller...Left standing as wobbily as the two brew-impaired vamp human-soul 'brothers' watching in dropped-jaw shock from the far side of the room...Wes now staring a bit coldly at Andrew as well...

"Just expressing my appreciation for Andy's noble services, Xander...Don't get all brotherly protective..." Dawn stepped back...As Andrew gasped for breath...Though she maintained an unbreakable hand hold on him...Guiding him to a chair by the computer desk...No need for him to go sit back way over there with poor, homesick Ms. Kennedy...Quickly positioning herself to block him from any escape...And to protect him from the glares of her ridiculously overprotective male friends, now including William, dutiful would-be bro-in-law that he was, however currently smashed...

"It's high time someone showed him a little thanks for all he's done for us..." she notes solemnly, patting the object of her affection's back...Take a deep breath, Andy... "Why really, he was the one who saved the world this last time...If he hadn't defied the First in that desperate...Incredibly dangerous...Intelligence mission...In which he first began his road to redemption..." she sighs... "Though without any superhuman abilities..." she proudly notes...As he blinks up at her rather adoring face...

Which like mission he shall never attempt again...So long as I have breath in my body...she thought...Beaming at him...As he eyed the frowning Wes and Xander for help...

William, arms folded...As much to help him keep balance while attempting to stand erect as to intimidate...Narrowly watching the little man who would dare toy with the affections of his beloved lil' Nibs and ...hopefully...future sis...

"B'it erver so dumble...Dere's noooo plas lik home..." Kennedy begins singing mournfully, head buried in her arms on the table behind her chair...Back now to the group...

Dat's da truth...Angel nods to William...Sighing...

Uh-oh...Wes and William eyed each other...An inebriated Irishman thinking sad thoughts of Mother and home...

"I'll...Tak' ya...Home again...Kathleen!..." Angel began mournfully...

"Ya gotta tak' me home, too!..." Kennedy calls...

Limbo...Mid Sunday afternoon...

Despite the return of Tara-Dru's soul to assist her, the disembodied soul of Cicely-Buffy was currently having a difficult time of it in encountering, courtesy of her friendly tour guide Angelus, a rather overwhelming number of those she'd sought to meet...The trapped souls of the, mostly unjustly, condemned...

For the major part, innocent trapped souls...With a slight bone or two to pick with the Slayer...Who seemed to be taking her time in getting to their counterparts on Earth...

"You haven't even come after my demon yet, Slayer!...It's been six years since I was taken!..." a young woman's spirit cried to her as Angelus politely paused to let a crowd gather round... "That thing murdered my little girl!..." she mournfully cried... "You let my monster go!...You made a dumb joke and let it go!..." an middle-aged man's head howled... "I saw you...You told your friends...It was all a joke to you!...It killed my wife that night...Goddamn you!..."

"Where have you been, Slayer?...Why didn't you help me!..." A howling chorus...Angelus watching contentedly...

"I'm only one person..." Buffy desperately cried to the wall of disembodied faces... "I did what I could...Please..."

"She saved the world...Many times...All your families!..." Tara-Dru called out, her face fluctuating between its two forms... "She did all she could...She's here to do more if she can!..." Drowned out in the sea of cries...Some mournful, many angry...More and more drawn in...

"Life is but a dream...Dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-da-da-dee-dee-dah-dah-dah...Life but a dream...Life is but a dream with you, oh yes..." Angelus happily hummed as he watched...All going as well as he and his Hell masters could have hoped...

"Please!...Please...I!..." Buffy's spirit was lost among the multitudes of the tormented...Desperate all for someone to blame, accuse for their unending nightmare...

"Mrs. Walthrop...I've been trapped here since 1877!..." an elderly woman's head, followed by others in nineteenth century dress, now joined in... "I've done no wrong...Why am I here?...Why did you abandon us?..."

"Did you know Ms. Summers/Mrs. Walthrop has friends who can restore her to Earth?..." Angelus quietly asked a soul passing on its way to join the crowd... "No indefinite stay for her...This is just a little sightseeing before she goes back..." he noted as the soul, a young girl killed by one of Harmony's minions in 2002 shrieked in rage...Spreading the word to her fellow sufferers...

"Life is but a crazy dream...Oh, yes..."

Sunday afternoon...

LA...Doublemeat Palace...#10002...Pulsating new nerve center of Wolfram-Hart, Inc...

"Our men...And the demonic equivalent thereof..." Chester, one of the two demons who'd planted the demonic brew at Angel's the previous night, was reporting in to his (mostly) human masters at their booth in back... "Are in position to intercept the Council Chairman and his friends when they get to town..."

Great...Fred the depressed VP nodded...Without enthusiasm...

"But lets make that... 'Try and intercept' in the final report...Ok?..."

God what a schlep to be leading us in this one...Chester frowned, annoyed...Angel at his most broody would be more encouraging...

Part XXVII...

"I Love Ya...Truly..."

PG-13

Summary: With the aid of some demon brew, a little party at Angel's new offices to celebrate William's resurrection in LA gives Buffy her chance to say it and prove it...The hard way...

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Archived at the Cicelyverse page of the Buffy Rebecca verse, .

Or direct to story at .

Part XXVII...

Downtown LA, five blocks from the former Wolfram-Hart tower, mid-afternoon...

"Cana I roll the winda down, Gil's...?" Willow asks, sitting on his passenger's side... "I don' feel sa gud..." she moans...

"No, Willow...I can't let you, I'm sorry...Remember Anne, Harmony, and Drusilla...Light would destroy them...Try the aspirin in the glove compartment..."

Ri', ri'...she nods...

"I'm so sorry to inconvenience you, Miss Rosenberg..." Dru sighs... "Is there anything I can do?.."

Nah...Thanka, Dru...she waves a hand..."Jus' kep a watch on ole Annie..."

"Mr. Chairman!..." Brenda, looking forward, cries... Yes, I see it...Giles nods...Slowing as he nears the "police" blockade and the two "policemen" manning...Actually men, two former Wolfram-Hart department heads, in fact...

Despite his lack of enthusiasm for the mission, W-H VP Fred had done what he could to enhance the chance of success in his interception operation...

The "cops" wave for them to stop...Giles cautiously pulls to a halt, checking all sides and calling on his Slayers and Miss Drusilla to do likewise...

"Sir...I sense..." Dru begins..A tense look...

A pound at the side door...OH!...Brenda and Drusilla shriek, as a large, gnarled demon glaresat them from the side window...Ummn...Giles sighs, swinging the car as much as he could to the side...So much for my brand new car...My first in ages...

Well, thank God for insurance and the Council's low deductible...He starts backing away...

"Stop, Mr. Giles!..." Allyson cries...He sees the large car and demon emerging from it behind them...

Oh!...Brenda falls on the unconscious Anne and Harmony...Allyson and Dru held by their belts, give respective yelps...Sorry, ladies!..Giles calls...

Ooooh...Willow moans...Head reeling...She blinks, looking out the side at several humans and a demon approaching her door...

"I'll tak' car' 'em, Gil's..." Willow insists...Lemme at 'em...

"I's strong...I's puwerful..."

"You are drunken..." Giles frowns...

"No way..." she shakes a wobbly head...Oooooh...she puts a hand to her throbbing noggin...Wher'd the waves cum from...? Her eyes rolling up...Not...Feelin'...Sa...Burrrrrr...Buhhhhh...

Splash...

Sor'...she sheepishly looks at Allyson, Brenda, and Dru...

Another heavy pound startles them...At the rear door now...Giles jerks the car forward the few feet left to him...A howl as the demon behind who'd just lept on the rear door falls off...

A howl which becomes a hideous screech of pain as Giles slams the car back into him...

Still blocked by its car just beyond,however...He turns his attention to the group approaching from the front...Brace yourselves, ladies!...he calls, revving the engine and slamming into the demon moving on Willow's door...

Arrrrrgggh!...Outside, poor Chester lets out an agonized cry...Chet!...his pal Sidney screams from his assault position...You bastards!...he charges...

"Re'l sor'..." Willow pulls her head up...uuuuuhhh...Covering her eyes...

Don'...Move...Anne whispered to Brenda...Surreptiously holding an arm as the Slayer, dazed, started to rise from her current perch atop the vampiress, Anne's head and the Slayer's bitten arm hidden from the others' currently distracted view...Don't lo'kat me...Gud girl...She patted the arm...Keeping her body still...As Brenda stopped in place, staring wanly at the others...

"Not at all, Miss Rosenberg...This may actually help you overcome your condition..." Dru tells her kindly...Passing a rag she'd spotted on the floor... "Just don't let either of the Slayers come into contact with...That..." she eyes the mess on Giles' van's floor and returns to scanning outside...Courtesy UV-screening windows...

The mess...On Giles' brand new van's floor...Willow sighs...

"Gil's...?...Real sor'..."

"That's all right, my dear...The rug is scotch-guarded...And Drusilla is quite right...It may help you...But ladies, she is also right in saying you should avoid contact..." he calls...As he craned his head, looking for some way out...

Crash!...A large, spike-like boney horn, crashes through the roof as the car rocks violently...Allyson smashing at the demon horn as Dru screams... "Sir!...Over there!..." she points at the two "policemen" who were now pulling what look like very authentic guns...Uuuuuuhh... Buuuuuu...Willow desperately covers...Too late...

"Sor..." Hmmn..Fe'ls a lil' betta...

"Out!..." The two "cops" bang at Willow's door, demanding surrender, as Sid the demon hastily retracts his rather-more-sensitive-to-pain-than-might-have-been-expected hunting spike from Giles' van's roof...

"I gotsit Gil's..." Willow calls... "Watch out, Dru..." she opens her door in the path of one of the two armed men...One shouting to her...

"No, Willow!...Brenda, Drusilla...Stop her!..." Dru gamely risking serious third degree burns as she grabs for the wiccan...As Brenda stares, a bit out of it yet...Anne and Harmony beside her remaining apparently even deader to the world than usual..."S'all ri' I got it...!" Willow cries, as she stumbles and falls out of the car...

"Get back, Drusilla!..." Giles calls sternly as the vampiress attempted to continue her efforts, now turning to her own side door...The irony of the situation striking him even as he did so... "Allyson!..." Allyson putting a gently restraining arm on Dru as the fallen Willow shoves her door back...

"Dere!..." she hops to her feet in front of the cops... "Tak' dat!..." a wave...The prewarned "cops" and the other humans...Never pays to let senior executive staff handle field operations Fred reflected as he watches from a safe distance...Well aware of Ms. Rosenberg's formidable rep...Backing off...

Flower petals fell round the group as Willow and her opponents stare...Hmmn...

Ummn...

"Jesus, you clods!...Get her!..." Sidney takes charge, waving his still-throbbing extended spike from his vanrooftop perch...Glaring at his mates...the damn gutless little human...Which a sudden lurch forward by Giles now shook the demon from...Arrrrrhhhh!...

Say...A newly arrived Joseph beams at the heroic demon rallying the troops from his dangerous position atop...Well, now beside...The Chairman's car...Quite a spirit in that one...He notes as Sid rose, calling for a renewed attack...

"Who is that guy, Lilah?..." he hissed as they watched from a safe observation point across the street... "We could use some new blood in middle-management...If he lives..."

A battered Chester dazedly coming to his feet in the rear...For his part about ready to concede yet another defeat...

"Bac'!..." Willow waves arms again...A somewhat more effective wall of fire throwing the W-Hers into something of a panic...At least the humans and some of the demons, brave Sidney yet attempting to hold his post to the last...Fortunately a tad more heat-resistant than some of his comrades...

"Fall back!..." Fred calls from his command post...Even Sid taking the best part of valor as Willow fires up a second wave of flame...

Aw, crap...Joseph shakes his head...Not again...Where the hell are our magics guys?...Or at least our fire safety staff?...

"Laidoff..." Lilah reminded him...Ah, right...he sighed...As Giles swung the van around, Allyson ready to open the side door...

But a dander-raised, inebriated Willow was not about ready to make a speedy exit...And charged the retreating Wolfram-Hart forces...Pursuing them with the magics equivalent of a stun-gun, a charged ball of energy...

Kinda based on what I got of Dawnie's old composition, that time I nearly discharged her, she thought, rather pleased...

But unfortunately burning her little store of recovered power down rather quickly...

"We'll have to swing back and pick her up...I can't follow her down that alley!..." Giles called to the others, turning again and moving back down the street...A quick turn and clear...

"All right..." he sighed... "I think we should be safe now...We'll catch up with Willow in a moment..."

"Don' be soo...sure bout dat...!" Anne hopped up, grabbing Brenda tightly...Who let out a whimper but was barely resistant in her grip...

"Anne!..." Giles whirled...Stopping the car with a squeal...

"Dat's me..." she grinned...Stopit...She shook the feebly struggling girl in her grip...Dru and Allyson turning to face her...

"Let her go Anne...Now!...Or Dru and Allyson here will destroy you..." the Watcher told her grimly...

"We will do it, Anne...All we need do is open the door here...Let the poor child go..." Dru called...

"Dis ain't a game, Gil's..." Anne snarled...Biting Brenda in the neck as the Slayer screamed...

"Oh...Lord..." she moaned... "No wonda ma Spikey goes for Slayers...Whoa..." she pulled away from Brenda's bleeding neck...Giving Giles a cold stare that for all her drunken staggering sent a chill to his bones...Drusilla resolutely waiting by Allyson, quite aware of her likely fate if Giles went for extreme prejudice in dealing with Anne...Sir?...both eyeing the Chairman...

"Don' Gil's..." Anne hauled the now-unconscious Brenda on her feet as she rose, her head bent to avoid the low ceiling... "She's still breathin' but I's can turn her fore Dru and that one kil me...And you can't be sur...Hic...You'll los' Buf too..."

"You know I can do it..." she held Brenda close... "Just a few drops outta me and ya got two Slayer vamps to fight...Or four roasted vamps...Tell 'em bak off..."

Wait, ladies...He waved Dru and Allyson back...

"Dat's betta...Ok..."

"Look at me, Anne..." Dru tried, staring at her... "Be in my eyes..."

"Screw ya, ya Willum-murderin' traitrus bitch..." Anne waved a hand...Keeping Brenda firmly in the other... "I tole ya it don' work on me..." She gave an angry stare back...Hows you lik' it, ya creepy nut...?

"Sorry, Mr. Giles..." Dru sighed... "I'm afraid she's right..."

"...'Sor' Mista Giles'..." Anne mimicked, sneering... "Ya stinkin' Benny Artie...er Arny..."

And I made you my lieutenant...First off...she sighed...Stinking Benedict Arnold...she shook her head...Whoa...She covered her mouth as her stomach did flip-flops...Still don' feel sa gud...

"Guess we gotta standup...er off..." she noted...

A knock at the door...Geesh, wha da hell?...she cried... "Whos' it?...I'm bus' here...If ya sellin' somethin' come back tanight...I's be waitin'..."

"Anne!..." Harmony woozily called from the floor... "Wuz urrrrrrrrpppp (Cuse, she gave a nervous blush, as she tried to sit up and take in the strategic situation...) up...?"

"Ms. Summers?..." Joseph called from outside... "We've come to offer our assistance...I am Joseph, senior director of Wolfram-Hart...We have Miss Rosenberg..."

Limbo...

The crowd of spirits...Many angered, most desperately seeking any help possible, others lost in despair but drawn to the faint hope and comfort offered by a clustering...continued to swell around Buffy, Tara-Dru, and their rather content tour guide, the demon essence Angelus...

"Angelus...Tell the First...Or whoever your current master is..." Tara-Dru waved a hand as he began a faint protest...Hell, I'm certainly not working for that feeble-brained lunatic, he thought sulking..."That it won't work...Buffy is not gonna be driven to despair now...Not when she's on the verge of..."

"Letting her demon kill everyone she loves...Including your victim...Poor, sad ole William...?" he grinned...

The pain on poor Dru's face making the pain he now felt as Tara-Dru shocked him...Almost...Worthwhile...

Buffy now slipping again into Cicely form stared at the multitudes crying out to her...Many calling her by name...Pleading...Insistent...Angry...Hopeless...

"I've done what I could!..." she cried back to them... "All I knew to do...Please..."

"Angelus...Enough..." a voice called...A face forming out of the mist... "You've no right to be here...And certainly no privileges earned to do so..."

"No one tells Angelus..." Angelus began...Then stared at the face...Ummn...

"I'll be happy to add what I can to Miss Drusilla's strength if you'd like..." the face, that of a dark, handsome young man smiled...

"This is neutral ground...She took her chances, came here by her own choice..." the demon eyed Buffy's floating face...A bit less strained now, thanks to the momentary release of pressure, but still...

The other spirits still crowding, more and more attracted in, clamoring for justice...Demanding salvation...

"They're just confused, Ms. Walthrop...Lost and alone...And afraid it may last forever..."

Easy prey for your kind...he glared at Angelus...

Our kind, friend...Angelus sneered back...

"We both seek to sway these poor folks to our respective causes..."

"Perhaps you're right..." the man nodded... "But lets see what they say to my case..."

"Friends..." he called out to the shifting clouds of faces... "Listen to me...The Slayer is not to blame for your fates..."

"Please, friends...You mustn't despair...Your times will come...Soon...The day of the vampires is drawing to a close now that the Slayers have been distributed throughout the world..." he called... "Ms. Summers and her earlier self have made that possible...She has done what no other Slayer could...Broken the endless cycle..." The group stared at him...

"You know me...I've been here many times to offer you comfort since I myself was freed...And I am not lying to you...You know more and more of us are freed each instant...Look..." he pointed as the face of the young girl Angelus had incited against Buffy suddenly vanished... "You see...Our current sufferings are only a moment in Eternity...And that moment is ending...Don't give in to despair...That's the only victory the Evil can ever win..." The crowd began to disperse...

"Thank you..." Tara-Dru's Dru face stared at the stranger...I think I...should know him...she thought...

Yeah...Buffy eyed his floating face... "That was getting a bit...Much..." she sighed... "I was pretty near freaking there..."

"But it was what you wanted to face...To learn the truth of what happened to those poor souls so horribly taken...No matter what the cost...And you'd guessed that cost might be high...Might even involve the risk of your being trapped here, after fighting so long to find and save your poor William...Yet you came...You truly are the most courageous and loving of the Slayers, Mrs. Walthrop..." he beamed...

"You aren't?...Ummn...You know..." Buffy eyed him... Oh, no...He waved a misty hand...Not Him/Her...But thanks for the honor of the thought, he shook his head, grinning...Just a former victim, as I said...he smiled...

"Freed by your efforts, in fact..."

Oh...? Sorry I don't...she began...He put up a hand... "You don't know me, of course, Slayer...You've never seen me..." the handsome man smiled gently... "But I know the woman who freed me at last..."

"I am Heinrich Nast...Counterpart of him you knew...Both as Buffy Summers and as Cicely Addams as... 'the Master...'..."

"Author...To my sorrow...Of much of the sufferings of you and your poor husband..."he sighed...

LA, the new offices of Angel, Wyndham-Price, Gunn, and Walthrop...

Sunday afternoon...

With things apparently well in hand regards Anne...And Dawn in a mood on some levels rendered somewhat more tolerant of romantic misadventure...William had managed to tell the story of the day's bizarre events...As best he could in his current conditions...

"A bit hard to believe that Buffy could have been so foolish..." Dawn sighed...Yet...She eyed Andrew...Dear, sweet, lovable Andrew...

One could see the possibly of love turning one's head under certain circumstances, she noted to them ...What with William's restoration, the powerful effects of the demonic brew, and Buffy's guilt over her previous treatment of her lover...Yes...She smiled at Andrew...Who needed only a little encouragement and enthusiastic support from a deeply loving companion of any gender to keep him permanently on the side of Light...

"I suppose Love can make one do things that others might call...Foolish..." she gave William a reasonably kind smile...

Xander now giving her a careful look...And Andrew a rather stern one...Andy, if you take the slightest advantage of this...His look to him clearly saying...

A look matched by that of Wes, William, and Angel...Though the countering gaze Dawn returned to them as she sat by her dear, unfairly put upon Andrew, was quite equal to the challenge...

Ni' one...Will noted to Angel in a whisper...Nibs'd make a great baddie herself someti'...

Part XXVIII...

"I Love Ya...Truly..."

PG-13

Summary: With the aid of some demon brew, a little party at Angel's new offices to celebrate William's resurrection in LA gives Buffy her chance to say it and prove it...The hard way...

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Archived at the Cicelyverse page of the Buffy Rebecca verse, .

Or direct to story at .

Part XXVIII...

LA downtown...Sunday afternoon...

With three demons, including the heroic Sidney and his somewhat battered friend Chester, riding atop the roof of his van, Giles was reluctantly following Joseph's car towards the new Wolfram-Hart nerve center at Doublemeat Palace #10002...A rather drained and demonic brew-smashed Willow a prisoner of the W-Hers outside while inside the car a wobbly Harmony watched over the Anne-enthralled Slayer, Brenda...Drusilla and Slayer Allyson carefully awaiting any opportunities to overcome the two vampiresses...

Anne savoring her triumph with appropriate queenly dignity...

"Haaaaahhhh!...Gotcha, Giles!...Ya, ya, ya!...Thought ya wuz bein' sooooooo smar' ketchin' onta me?...Well...Shoooowwws yu...!" she waved a fist...Oooh...Nearly thrown off balance...

Hey...? she poked the new Chairman on the shoulder...Do not do that while I'm driving...he noted coldly without looking back...Ummn...Sor' Gil's...she instinctively and sheepishly apologized..."But how'dya know anyways?...Wusn't Ia gud Buf?..."

"You were starting to smolder on my doorstep..." he looked back at her briefly...

Oooh... "But I wuz a gud Buf, ri'?...Lotsa class...?" So innocently genuine that he couldn't help nodding, thankful that the road was keeping his attention focused...Thanka, she beamed contentedly...

"Did ya notice ma new suit?..." she began... "Gotit on special fer..."

"Sayyys, Annie...?" Harm looked over...Indicating the wan-looking Brenda seated on the floor in front of her... "Yeah wha' is it Harm...Cancha see I'm busy negot...neg...Makin' a deal with Gilesy?..."

"Annie?... Cans I hafva leeetle bite?...Slayers is real good br'in fud...Spike, ya know he wuz alwas sooo smart and soph...sofa...Realll smar'..." Anne frowning...

"Anne...If Brenda is harmed further..." Giles looked back quickly...

"Yes, Anne...Please, you must stop or I will have to take action...Harmony, I believe I have some blood left over in my purse..." Dru helpfully chimed in, pulling her bag from side to front and opening...Ah, yes...

"Leave her 'lone, Harm...Not cause of dem, ya know..." Anne waved at the others... "Cause I ain't afraida nobody... But I made a deal and the quean sticks ta her deals like gluk..."

"Glue?..." Allyson suggested... "No, dear...Anne means gluk...It's a very sticky secretion many demons void from cheek pouches, used for trapping prey and quite powerful..." Dru explained...

Hey!...Anne grabbed at Harmony...

"I tole ya no Slay'r fur ya!...Whadaya doin'?...Tryin' ta mak da Queen look bad to my Gilesy?..." she raged at Harm as her lieutenant tried to snatch an unauthorized dinner...Anne pulling the Slayer back while slapping Harmony hard on the jaw...OW!...she howled...

"Anne, please..." Dru eyed her... "There's no need to hurt poor Harmony...Here, dear..." she waved a half-full blood bag just removed from her purse...And tossed it gently...Harm barely making the catch...Whoa...

"Hey, watchit...Dis ma Watcha's new car..." Anne, annoyed... "Neat car, Gil'sy..." she noted...

LA, the offices of Angel, Wyndham-Price, Gunn, and Walthrop...

"We gotta go find my poor lil' ded Buf-girl..." William was insisting as the group debated...To the extent still possible for those inebriated-by-brew members...The next course of action, Giles' and the others' arrival with a captive Anne being overdue and the new Chairman being currently unreachable on cell phone...

Clearly something was wrong, Wesley, Xander, and Andrew...The only unaffected members of the combined team...Had agreed...Backed by the bizarrely affected but apparently quite capable Dawn...Their opinion accepted by the less currently capable members...Particularly the quite-willing-to-accept-a-disasterous-outcome-, depressed and guilt-ridden William...

However, though depressed and guilt-ridden he might be, he'd no intention of abandoning the field to his beloved's counterpart...It was just...Hell, every time they'd been en route to the finish line, some damned thing seemed to knock them right back to start...Ever since 1880, if it was true and his Buffy was the very same Cicely he'd lost...And now, thanks to his foolishly accepting the crucial role in her insane plan...Well, once again a bright idea by his beloved had landed them in a fine mess, he thought...

Still each time it had been with the best of loving intentions, he now realized...In 1880, she'd clearly been trying to save him in no small cost in heartbreak by driving him off, and had never anticipated a conspiracy against them, including Drusilla's involvement...In 2003, she'd risked Anne's triumph to share his suffering and bring them fully together at last, and if this one was looking more and more as incredibly a stupid notion as Cicely's 1880 scheme, it likewise had been done with the greatest of love and devotion...And, after all, as Angel had continued to point out, if they could keep their end up...And somehow get the damned stuff out of Willow so she could work her mojo properly when she and the others finally showed...Everything ought to work out...

Though given the way things had been "working out" for him the last century or so...

Oh, well...What's a century or two compared to the Eternity they had?...And Anne did seem to love him as Spike had come to love Buffy...Sooner or later she be sure to come for him, he'd get her back in his sights and have his Buffy-given chance to play hero yet again...Just had to keep one's end up...

Though it wouldn't hurt to be able to keep one's head up...

"I think William is right..." Dawn pondered... "It's clear Giles and the others have met with some problem...We might be better off to have a few of us go and seek them rather than wait for whatever inevitable effort Anne and any allies she's gathered make...If nothing serious is wrong it can't hurt and if disaster has occurred, the rest of us'll be in position to retrieve the situation..."

Identical annoyed expressions on both the former and current LA team leaders...Though an expression harder for Angel to maintain just now...

Andrew?...she turned to him with a beaming smile... "I think it would be best if you and I...Alone..."

"Dawn..." Xander frowned...A hard glare at the bewildered Andy...

"What?...Xander, I simply mean that no one would suspect us...Two harmless innocents out for a Sunday stroll?...Excepting Anne and any one we know she might have turned of course..."

And even she would never suspect that I've become something of a match for her...she beamed...

"At least on the intellectual scale..." Not that sis was ever all that much of a challenge that way...she did not say...

"Dawn...I think it would be too dangerous..." Wes began... "No wa' Nibs'..." Will agreed...Buf'd kill me fer sure even if Willa don'...he noted to Angel, who nodded carefully, managing to avoid keeling over...Uhnnn...Dat brew ain' sittin' so well...

"Nonsense..." she waved a hand at Wes... "We have access to the Wolfram-Hart vaults...Surely between what's available in there and the lack of caution Anne will display towards little Dawn..." she smiled...

"And if we've lost Willow?...And Giles...?"

"If we'd lost the Chairman...And Willow...The more or less permanent way...We'd be under attack right now, even if the demon wouldn't retain her power...Our best move is as I've outlined..." she stared at him, arms folded...Wesley staring back...Actually, all things considered he thought...

"Lemme go..." Will insisted... "Just gimme an overcoat and I'll get Annie and Willow..."

Lessgo...Angel nodded...Looking round for the nearest exit...And maybe some place to rest his rebellious tummy...Ohhh...After the heroics, of course...

"No, William...Angel...You'd be too vulnerable out there without some more effective kind of anti-daylight protection than a couple of coats..." Wes noted...Not to mention some protection from stumbling round like a couple of moronically drunken...he did not say... "We'd lose you as well as Buffy and we'd be helpless..."

"Dawn's plan may be the best one, actually...Though I think it will work quite well if Xander and I go..."

Hmmn...Dawn frowned...As did the vamp boys...Kennedy somewhat more concerned for the moment with her overdue Willa and her hoped-for return to Loooong Island...

"We're unaffected by the demon brew...I'm perfectly capable of working any magics we can root out here...And it's my responsibility...Xander?...If you're willing...?" Xander nodding back...

"Well..." Dawn sighed...An innocent look... "I suppose you're right, Wesley...And you are in charge so we must defer to your judgement...You will keep in contact with us in case we uncover any thing useful after you head out, right?..." He nodded...Well, perhaps in her case that brew did provide a little common sense...

Her manners are certainly much improved...

"In that case, Andy and I...And William...And Xander..." she eyed the frowning Xander and equally frowning, if wobbily Will... "Should head for the occult materials vaults and start reviewing what might be on hand...You should check via the computer here, plan your route, and Angel and Kennedy can keep watch here in case Anne returns unguarded with or without allies..."

If that's acceptable to you, of course...she smiled gently at Wes...Hmmn...Well, if Xander's with them...And it would allow me a few unbothered minutes to check the archives the quick way...

"All right..." he eyed her... "But Dawn...You and Andrew promise me you'll follow Xander's orders and not fool around with anything you find down there?...And Will, you'll watch out for them...?" She nodded...Of course, Wesley...Offered another winning smile, then gave William a quick glance...Hmmn...Drunken as he was he could still take a cue when given...

"No...hic-hic...Prob..." he nodded solemnly...Staring back at Dawn...Well, well...

Might be there is a place at the family table for me at that, the thought struck him...

LA...Doublemeat Palace franchise #10002...

At last...Joseph sighed with contentment as he entered the new W-H HQ, following on the heels of his prisoners and Evil's new Queen...We've finally managed to pull one off...

Ok, so it was the Slayer's idiotic idea to get closer to her vamp beloved...But still...Evil has won!...Well, is on the verge of winning...a major triumph...The permanent conversion of one of Light's greatest to our team...Hah!...

And all due to the Power of Love...he sneered contentedly to himself...And then aloud to Lilah...Who was clearly less certain of the decisiveness of Evil's victory...Lets not count the chickens, boss...Her sour expression saying...

"Get those curtains in place there!..." he called to Fred and several other former top execs... "You want to lose Evil's greatest asset the first day?..." he beamed at Anne in her overcoat and hat...Thoughtfully provided by him...As she smiled back...Kinda nice ta be 'preciated...she noted to him...As he gave a gallant nod...Lilah standing by him, a bit put-out...

Not that she was by any means anything so ridiculous as...Even faintly...Jealous...Of the new female star player...

Just...Joseph didn't have to make all that big a fuss...The thing hadn't even agreed to sign on to the team yet...She might still be quite contentedly planning to eliminate them as well as her moronic friends...

"Well...Chairman Rupert Giles of the Watchers' Council..." Joseph leered as the prisoners were brought along... "The pathetic new Council I should say...Now at the feet of the victorious legions of Wolfram-Hart, Inc..."

Anne glared a bit...Hey...

Only the Queen leers like that at old friends' expense...

"Hardly your feet, sir..." Giles frowned, halted by the guards as chairs, rope, and chain were brought, Dru and Slayer Allyson receiving top priority, naturally...Willow next to him, fuming as best she could in her current state...Jes lemme get it up a lil' bit...I'll wip' dat face off baldy's Charlie Brown's head...Lit'rally...Wan Brenda beside her, staring rather blankly...

"I take it you are one of the senior partners?..." the Chairman eyed the little death's-headed figure, strutting now like a proud Napoleon of Evil...

"Yes, indeed, Mr. Chairman...I am Joseph...Senior director of the Wolfram-Hart firm...And orchestrator of today's little party...With our dear Anne's essential assistance..." he waved a generous hand at the evermore frowning Anne...Demon or no...Nobody talks dat way to ma Watcha...Gettin' ta not lik' dis pushy lil' creep real quick she thought...

"Anne...Who's the chromy-dome guy?..." Lieutenant Harmony, dutifully staggering at her leader's side, hissed to her... "And whens we gonna see Xanda?..." Shetup...Anne hissed back...And keepa...hic... lookout...Fer my backside... Ri'...Harm nodded...Dutifully checking the rear with a glance that nearly toppled her over...

"And our own dear little Drusilla..." Joseph turned to the now well-secured Dru...Who eyed he-who-was- clearly-Chief-Instrument-of-Satan coldly...

"Sir...I am no longer your fiend-like...Well, actually all fiend..." she sighed... "...Drusilla...I have been cleansed and restored to the service of God and the Blessed Virgin...Do not look for assistance from me, however dark my demonic essence may have been..." she told him solemnly...

Hmmn...he blinked...Definitely not the Drusilla he knew...

"Ah..." Anne waved a hand... "She's crazy...Dat one...Musta got a soul or somethin' when she got drunk..."

Drunk?...he eyed her...Hmmn...He looked over to his former VP-in-charge of science and metaphysics development...Who sighed...Yeah...It could've had that kind of effect...he nodded...

"It was an unstable formulation...We warned you it might have unpredictable side effects, sir..." he noted...Especially where we no longer had a testing facility...he sighed...

Mmmn...Joseph frowned...Still, he eyed Dru's calm and composed face...She is at least behaving rationally...Maybe we could find a way to get the stuff to bring our Dru back minus the insanity...Whoa?...

"She doesn't have her soul back by any chance?...The brew couldn't do that right?..."

Not possible...the VP nodded...This is some kind of bizarre depressant effect on her demon...

"God's mercy, sir...That is the best explanation..." Dru proudly noted... "I am only grateful He has sought to offer me this chance to redeem myself and make this foul instrument of Evil a tool of His purposes...Perhaps even allowing me a chance to die in His service..."

"Geesh..." Anne glared... "You guys did dis ta her...?...Wha' buncha morons..."

"My dear Anne..." Joseph eyed her coolly... "It was our demonic brew that led your counterpart to destruction...Our brew...And, of course..." he chuckled... "True Love..."

"What a pity dear Halfreck did not survive to witness the final triumph of all her efforts to destroy the Walthrops..." he leered...

"Hal...F-ing...Freck?..." Anne howled, startling him... "If dat no gud demmen bitch wuz here...Live...I'd let her haf it so bad!...If she's ya friend...!" eyes narrowed...Ohhh...Widened quickly...

Ummn...Why...Ummn...Joseph nervously blinked...

Giles eyed Dru, then Allyson, now chained and under heavy guard...Well, heavy as the battered W-H could currently afford...Near the still-dazed Brenda...

"But...My dear girl..." Joseph looked at his new ally... "Halfreck made your final triumph possible...If she hadn't arranged for our dear Dru..." Drusilla looked down, shame-faced...

"You..." Anne glared... "Yous guys were in on ma Willy's murda?..."

I mean...she noted, calming a moment...Ok...It kinda worked out fer me...But still...Even the demon counterpart of the Missus can't take hubby's murder and eternal condemnation lying down...

Ummn...Boss...Lilah nudged him...I don't think she likes the husband-killing part...Demon or no...

"Ummn...Well...We profited by it...Just as you now have..." Joseph noted...But hastily added... "But it was your former Watcher's and Lord D'Hoffryn's scheme...Not ours..."

She continued a cold glare that somehow cut through her dazed drunkenness and left him feeling a bit wishing perhaps he'd thought this one over a leetle more carefully...And wishing he'd not had to lay off quite so much of his former demon and magics "muscle"...As he looked round at his sadly depleted ranks...Hmmn...

"Your old Watcher Simon Farris is condemned in Hell...We could offer you a chance to witness his torments...Even choose some..." he hopefully suggested... Oh, yeah...? she eyed him coldly...Wouldn't mind dat...she nodded...

"And we might even be able to help you regards action against Lord D'Hoffryn...He's not a favored client of ours...Much too independent for our tastes..."

Uh-huh...she looked round the now carefully curtained...And temporarily closed...Doublemeat franchise...

"Well...Yous guys ain't looking lik' yas could do D-H in jes ri' now...Hic...(Cuse)...I gotta tell ya..."

"Jes...Er...Just a temporary cash-flow problem..." Joseph beamed... "Soon to be rectified, I assure you..."

"Yeah?...Well dat's good... 'Cause if we're gonna do business, I gotta tell ya, I'm high main...maynet... (Maintenance?...Lilah suggested silkily... "Yeah.." .Anne darkly glaring back...Smar' ass type, eh?...)..."

"You can rest assured, my dear, that Wolfram-Hart takes proper care of its clients..." Joseph confidently beamed...

Uh-huh...she frowned, swaying a bit...That is one powerful brew, Lilah thought... "I gotta sit down a mo..." A chair for our friend...Joseph impatiently waved to one of the remaining demons...Thanka...Anne nodded, regally taking a seat...

" 'Cuse me..." Harm waved a hand... "Is Xanda round here?...I wanna say...Hic...Hi..."

"Your Xander is in deadly danger, Harmony..." Dru gallantly tried... "These people will not hesitate to kill him...And not your way...He will lost to you..."

Oh?...Harmony eyed Anne...Who frowned from her new throne, waving a hand...Eh... "Nobody's gonna do nuting to Xanda...Less I says..." she insisted...

"Of course..." Joseph ingratiatingly nodded...A gleaming smile...Which, on his death's-head face rather unnerved Harmony...She backed away towards the heavily chained and seated Drusilla...Don't be frightened, dear...she soothingly whispered...Giles eyeing her carefully again...Hmmn...

On second thought...

"Anne..." Giles spoke up... "If you remember anything of Buffy, you know these Wolfram-Hart people are Angel's opponents...Not to be trusted under any circumstances...Even by you..."

Hey...Joseph glared... I resent that...After all the effort I've been making on Anne's behalf this day...he thought... "My dear Anne...We are your natural allies...Dedicated to the cause of Evil..."

Verrry bad?...Harmony looked at Dru...Very bad...Dru whispered, nodding...And quite willing to kill you as well as poor Xander...Before you can...

"Harmy...Ya gets over here...!..." Anne called, pointing...Frowning at Dru...Whas she up to, anyhow?...Eyes briefly narrowing...Ohhh...Noso good with the eyes small...She put a hand to her mouth...

"I gotta sit down too..." Harmony noted to one of the former W-H VPs...Staggering now...As the VP helped her to a booth seat...A somewhat less nauseous Anne frowning slightly but graciously tolerating the breech in royal protocol by her second...

"Evil...Shmevil..." Anne waved a hand, returning to Joseph... "I cares bout Annie...And dat's dat..."

Great...Joseph sighed inwardly...Another Spike...Utterly self-absorbed...No regard for the big picture...The common cause...Geesh...Even Angelus gave the Apocalypse a decent shot...But he maintained a game expression... "Well...In that case all the more reason to place your faith in us, my girl...We of W-H, Inc take self-interest as our clients' middle names..."

Uh-huh...the new Queen of the Damned eyed him coldly...

This negotiation is not going quite as smoothly as hoped...The watching W-H staff, including an increasingly concerned Lilah noted...As did Giles, Drusilla, and Allyson...Willow rather engaged in trying to keep her eyes open...

Zzzz...Harmony noted...Her head now laying on the booth table...

"Waits a mo..." Anne stared at Joseph, the long-delayed conclusion suddenly hitting her... "I drunk dat stuf too...Ya sayin' it's wha knocked me fer a loop?..."

Ummn...Not intentionally...he gave a nervous beam... "It's just...Buffy drank it...And while that was to your and our benefit...The effect..."

"Ya damn lil' basta'...!" the new Queen raged in imperial wrath, rising from her chair... "Ya poisonin' me?..." A trace of real fear in there, Giles noted...

Ummn...No...Certainly not...Joseph tried...Ummn...

"Look at Harmony, Anne..." Giles moved to take advantage of the opening... "She's ill and you've been getting worse...The Wolfram-Hart people want you dead as much as Buffy...They're simply using you..."

Hmmn...Anne pondered the situation...On da one hand...Gilesy wud nefer lie to Buf...Well, ok...He wud...Lik' when he tried ta kil...Hmmn...A new focus for her rage...

"You tried ta kil Willum...!" she pointed at the Chairman, rope-bound in his chair next to Willow and the others... "Tink Im dum?...Im gonna listen ta ya, ri'?...Yeah..." she sneered... "Ya wants me dead and hellybund sos ya lil' Buf...fy..." an attempt at a sweet Buffy look... "...can cum bak...I knows...Yeah..." she waved a hand...

But...On the other hand...Wudn't trust baldy and co as far as I can toss 'em...Though I can toss 'em prudy far...

She eyed her prisoners, then the rather nervous Wolfram-Hart staff...A blinking Harmony now trying to lift her head off the table...Ohhhh...

Limbo...

"No, Cicely...No..." Nast's spirit shook its disembodied head... "It was you who took the first step outside the box...When you sacrificed everything for love of William...As you just did again, Ms. Summers...You began the process that broke the chain...The First's last effort was an act of despair...She knew the game was practically over when you returned yet again to save Will..."

"But I was selfish...I..."

"You transcended your role, Buffy...No Slayer before you ever did more than what was expected of her...They did their duty and freed a certain number of us...Kept the balance and held the Evil in check...But no more than that..."

"It was you who insisted there were more important things than maintaining the balance of power...Refused to accept the limitations imposed on you...Fought to live a full life...To love and be loved no matter what the cost...And that is what the First and those others who maintained this hideous stand-off feared most...A Slayer whose compassion would never let her be satisfied with that...That would lead her to seek to rescue her beloved...And eventually, all of us..."

"Those others?...The Powers That Be?...Are they?..." she morphed back into Buffy's face... "Is God?...Responsible for...This?..." she looked out on the sea of suffering souls, still dispersing...

"Other masters of Hell...And yes, some of those even of Light who feared disruption of the balance have been content solely to maintain it...Even the Powers That Be can fear change...As for God?..." Nast shrugged his misty head... "I wish I knew...Only He/She knows Its intentions...Some day perhaps they'll be revealed..."

But as a loyal son of the Church I can hope that God had something to do with your triumphs...he smiled...

"You haven't won yet, Cicely!..." Angelus snarled... "Your demon is loose and you've trapped yourself here...Forever..."

Evil will triumph, with your darkest nature in the vanguard...As we planned since your rebirth...That is the victory you have handed to us...he sneered...Nast eyeing Tara-Dru, then Buffy...You want we should...?...No, she told him quietly... "I want to hear him..."

"Why do you think the First bothered to destroy your pathetic Council and your fellow Slayer sisters?...Do you really think it was simply because she feared a single new inexperienced Slayer would stop her and her army?...Please..." Angelus chuckled coldly...Moving hopefully in for the kill...

"The First, sadly, drew her power in the world from the hate you foolish humans generate yourselves...And who in the world had most reason to hate and loathe the Council and to wish the Slayer line destroyed forever?..." he grinned...Buffy's face trembling slightly...Tara's face giving Nast a worried glance...

Yes, Cicely...You took your revenge at last...Courtesy our First and her poor ranting Caleb...

"The least you could do, Mrs. Walthrop..." Angelus sneered... "Is thank her and Hell...For doing what you couldn't consciously bring yourself to do..."

And now, Buffy...Your demon will complete the job our poor First is currently unable to...I suppose we should really thank you...he smiled angelically...She stared at him...

"Ok...I've heard him and his little scheme out..." she eyed Nast, then Tara-Dru... "Go nuts, guys..."

Ummn...Angelus blinked...

Part XXIX...

"I Love Ya...Truly..."

PG-13

Summary: With the aid of some demon brew, a little party at Angel's new offices to celebrate William's resurrection in LA gives Buffy her chance to say it and prove it...The hard way...

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Archived at the Cicelyverse page of the Buffy Rebecca verse, .

Or direct to story at .

Part XXIX...

Back at the new HQ of Evil, Joseph had resumed his sales pitch for Anne's signing onto the team...Which had become a more difficult task than he'd hoped...

These damned independent vampire types...Evil spawns them and all they wanna do is survive, no matter what happens to Evil, Incorporated...

Where's the loyalty?...

"We'll take care of Drusilla, Anne...Just as soon as I can call in some of our laid-off magics people to work on nixing the brew's effect...Now all you have to do...Is transform our human prisoners...And then we march to destroy our other two traitorous vampires..." Huh?...she stared...

Boss...Lilah tried desperately...Whoa...

"This day will see the greatest triumph of Evil yet..." Joseph raised a victorious fist... "The destruction of Angel and William...And..." she cut him off in mid-gloat...Oh-oh...Lilah closed her eyes...Why did he have to mention William?...

Clearly Anne had come to a crucial matter in her negotiations with her new allies...

"Kill who?..." Anne whirled to face him...

"But..." Joseph eyed the furious Anne... "He's no longer in our ranks...We'll try to recover Spike of course but as for that miserable soul...We must disp..." he choked as she raised him off the floor with one hand...

Joseph!...Lilah stared...As did the rest of the Wolfram-Hart remnants...

Could've told him this is what'd happen...VP Fred sighed...

"You see, Anne..." Giles called to her... "They mean to destroy him..." She waved an angry hand at him...Keeping poor Joe suspended with the other...Jes a min'...

Loyal to the last, demon Sidney now made a gallant effort to rescue his Commander-in-Chief...A charge Anne ended deftly with a one-handed neck snap...Not even pausing to lower Joseph...

"Sid?..." a horrified Chester stared...But chose the better part of valor...As did the rest...Queen Anne clearly a lady not to be trifled with...Even in her current state...

"We gotta do wha', baldy?..." Anne glared...Staggering a bit but not at all due to his slight struggles in her death grip...The various remaining few demons and other W-H more or less human staff too shocked...And too devoted to the noble self-preservation-above-all principles of Wolfram-Hart...To follow poor Sidney's brave attempt to intervene...

"Let him go!..." Lilah suddenly whacked the vampiress hard on the back, Harmony and the others staring...Oh...I guess I wuz 'posed to be watchin' Annie's back...Second-in-command Harmony sheepishly noted to herself...Ummn...As Anne whirled to hurl the human back against the far wall...

"Li...L...ah!..." Joseph gasped, still firmly in Anne's clutch...

"Wuz dat for?..." Anne stared at Lilah now huddled down by the wall... "Ya know, I'm gettin' to tak' a real no likin' to yous guys..." She shook Joseph... "And nobody's gonna hurt ma honey Willy...Ya hear me, lil' man?..."

Well?...she glared as he choked... "I think ya gotta let'im talk, Annie..." Harm noted...Oh...Ok...She loosened the clutch a hair...

Ye...ye..yes...he gasped...None of ...Our people will...

"Oh, no...Yous guys are gonna be responsible for Willy...He gets a scratch...A cold...Ya all get it from me...Startin' with ya girlfriend over der...Got it, baldy?..." she took demon face... "Ya got it?..."

"Yee...ss..."

Ok...she dropped him... " 'Cause Willum the Bludy's my guy and soul er no soul...Nobody touches my guy...The Quean's guy..." she looked over the stunned W-H forces...The pathetically shattered remnants of the W-H forces... "Ev'rybody gots it?..." They stared back, several nodding hastily...

"Les' hear it, baldy?...Wha bout ma Willy's?...Wha ya got planned for him...?"

"His fate is entirely in your hands, my dear...We leave him totally to you, of course..." an ingratiating smile...As Lilah stumbled over towards him...What the hell?...He stared at his assistant in shock...Is she coming back?... "Bak off, ya demon's bimba..." Anne growled at the approaching Lilah...Hey...Attorney-at-Law Morgan glared back...

Bimbo?...Hell, Summers didn't even graduate college...

"In fact..." Joseph quickly moved to suavely divert the fuming Anne... "Ms. Morgan and I only just left him and his fellow human-souled vamp at our old offices...In more or less perfect condition..."

"He betta be..." she narrowed her eyes... "Cause if ma Willy's hurt...Soul o' no soul..."

"His continued good health will be our top priority, my dear...Just as long as you assure us of your support..." Joseph smiled...Pushing it boss...Lilah hissed...

Say?...Is he?...Standing between me and...she thought, looking as Joseph carefully stepped in front of her...Nah...Couldn't be...

"Yeah, ya girl-friend's ri'..." Anne nodded... "Don' push ya luck, baldy..."

" 'Cause Annie's runnin' things now..." she picked up Joseph and tossed him back towards Lilah who rather deftly managed a catch...

What?...he blinked...Running?...

Runnin'...Lieutenant Harmony nodded proudly, staggering back to her Queen's side...Hmmn...The Wolfram-Hart survivors eyed each other...

Hell, could things under her get any worse?...

"Your friends here maybe able to torture me, and please for your own love of God, not again, not again for your souls' sake, please, please..." Angelus whimpered to Tara-Dru and Nast... "But soon our...surviving...leadership in Hell will order your demon to lead the final attack against your moronic friends, already rendered almost helpless by the same brew that lead you to destruction...She'll destroy my feeble counterpart and your William..."

"She'll what?..." Buffy blinked at him... "Your bosses are gonna order her to kill William?.." she stared...

"Yes..." he again instinctively started to gloat, stopping short with such a genuinely sheepish...Ooops... Look of sudden terror that even Nast and Tara-Dru, now in her Drusilla form, were inclined to forbear...

But only...Inclined...Tara-Dru noted as Angelus screamed...

Wait, please...Cicely put up a hand... "Your bosses are ordering my demon self to...?" she looked at Angelus again...

"Uh-huh..." he nodded nervously, trying to keep the triumphant leer to a minimum... "Via the remnants of our old Wolfram-Hart team, still nobly fighting on to victory in spite of..." She burst into laughter...As he blinked...Cicely?...

Poor thing's gone over the edge with this one?...he thought, hopefully...The horror of realizing that she herself will...?

"C'mon, guys...Lets find poor Harmony and some of the other folks here...I want to speak to 'em and see more of this place..." Buffy turned to the others...Still chuckling...

"Buffy?..." Tara-Dru asked anxiously... Don't worry about it, dear...Cicely grinned at her...And turned back to an increasingly anxious Angelus...We couldn't have screwed this one?...his worried look mirroring his thoughts...

"Angelus?...A word of warning..." Cicely grinned, morphing into Buffy... "If you got any friends in that gang with Anne...Better tell 'em to head for Hell or even further when the marching orders to kill William come in...Less you want go and get that one countermanded before it's too late..."

He stared...

"I think we can leave the situation on Earth to my other self for the moment..." she rejoined Tara-Dru and Nast...

"Lessee..." the new queen of W-H pondered...Several former department heads quickly coming to her to offer their happy acquiescence in the new order...A sitting, and rather stunned Joseph watching the sudden shift of power beside Lilah...

"What do we do?..." she hissed... Fred?...Et tu?...Joseph stared as former VP Fred joined the line of those offering fealty...Fred giving a silent shrug...What ya gonna do?...As he passed his late chief...

"Joseph?...We've got to do something..."

"Like what?...You gotta stake or something...?" he glared...

"Didn't you think this might happen?..." she glared back...Typical...Underestimated a woman's ability and ambition...Not to mention her devotion to her beloved...

"Well how was I to know her feelings for him ran that deep?..." he waved hands...Fortunately Anne a bit preoccupied trying to follow the various suggestions her new staff were offering...All at once, each desperate to make a hit with their new leader...

"You told me they did..." Lilah frowned...

"I did?...Well I never meant that deep...I figured she'd be happy to get Spike back..."

"Well...You must have had some emergency plan...Didn't you think she might be unwilling to cooperate?..."

"Actually...I never figured we'd do so well as we did...I didn't bother to think so far ahead..." he sighed...

"Christ..." Lilah breathed... And I'm almost ready to switch to that team...After this latest disaster...

"Come on..." she pulled at him... "We've got to get out of here while she's busy with our fawning morons..."

"And go where...?" he hissed...But let himself be dragged along... "Where do you think?..." she frowned at him as they moved to the counter area...She lifting the bar post to the grills and kitchen as he scooted through...

"Angel and the others will kill us..." he noted as they hurried back through the kitchen...Fred and several others up front by Anne, for old times sake, avoiding noting their departure...Hey, one never knows how things will go...

"Not if we can tell them how to get to Anne and their friends..." Lilah replied...Pushing the door to the alleyway in back open...Fortunately, the mindless killer demon guards formerly on duty having been let go the previous day for lack of cash for their feed...C'mon...

Hmmn...

They raced for the bus just now passing...By luck, the first in the route to the old tower...And climbed aboard just as the new Queen of the Damned and Wolfram-Hart, Inc began making inquiries as to their present location... "Wher'd Baldy an'is bim get ta?...Harm?..." Harm dutifully attempting to look round from her seat...Don't see 'em, Annie...

"So..." a calming Lilah now rather sympathetically eyed her poor Joe as they took seats...Such an up-and-down day for the little fellow...

Girlfriend, eh?...she grinned...

"I Love Ya...Truly..."

PG-13

Summary: With the aid of some demon brew, a little party at Angel's new offices to celebrate William's resurrection in LA gives Buffy her chance to say it and prove it...The hard way...

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Archived at the Cicelyverse page of the Buffy Rebecca verse, .

Or direct to story at .

Part XXX...

LA...Doublemeat Palace...Late Sunday afternoon...

A chorus of W-Hers, humans backed by the few remaining demons on staff...Anne watching from her improvised throne...A booth pulled out into the middle of the dining court, with pillow obtained from a former head of Fiscal Planning whose hemorrhoids were once again suffering from that good ole hard plastic...

(From "Killer Queen..." Queen...)

"...Drop of a hat she's as willing as

Playful as a pussy cat

Then momentarily out of action

Temporarily out of gas

To absolutely drive you wild, wild..

She's all out to get you

(The boys give it their all...)

She's a Killer Queen

Gunpowder, gelatine

Dynamite with a laser beam

Guaranteed to blow your mind

Anytime

Ooh, recommended at the price

Insatiable an appetite

Wanna try ?

You wanna try..."

The new Queen of Wolfram-Hart kept court at her new Palace...Doublemeat Palace, #10002, licensed franchise...Tapping to the music, beaming and waving, somewhat aimlessly, at her new minions...Saw Lizzie II do dis on TV, she noted to Lieutenant Harmony's...Wha ya wavin' for?...A special smile for the ever-gallant Fred, now tentatively moving to secure the Prime Ministership for himself, following deposed leader Joseph's departure...Utilizing his well-developed skills at stroking his way up the ladder by providing the new ruler of W-H with the just right touch to appeal to her own well-developed vanity...

A proper coronation...With appropriate theme song...

"Dat's me..." she happily joined in... "...Im da Killar Quean...Im somethin', somethin' really keen...Im dynamite wid a laser beam..." You guys got lasers?...she turned to Fred...Sorry, repossessed a week ago last Wednesday, he noted...Oh... "But our science staff once recalled could whip some up very quickly..." Great... "Oh and rokets wida launchers...Lika bazookas, ya know?...yeah...Get me lots of dose..." she insisted...I like roket launchers...she beamed...Resuming...

"Im really gonna blow ya mind..." Yeah...More waves as the remaining WH-ers lined the table aisles as best they could to cheer their new ruler...

"What about Xanda...?" Harmony whispered to Drusilla...Having taken advantage of the Queen's distraction with ceremonial duties to resume her previous conversation with her ex-comrade of the Army of Evil...Currently held near the main grill well-secured and under guard with the other prisoners, Chairman Giles, Slayers Allyson and the Anne-enthralled Brenda, and a rather inebriated Willow, still suffering as was Dru from the effects of the Wolfram-Hart demon brew...

"He's sure to be destroyed, my dear...No chance for you to speak to him about your offer..." Dru insisted, whispering up to her worried face..."Anne has no interest in pleasing you..."

Eh...Harm frowned...Ya jest wants I shud hep ya...I ain't dum...Yous all for their side now...

"Your Xanda...er Xander...would be pleased to hear you helped us, Harmony..."

Yeah?...she pondered a mo...Hmmn...Yeah, he wud... "Ok..."

"Ya promise you'll tell im I hepped...?" Certainly...Dru nodded...

"I think you shouldn't let your friend speak too much to our prisoners..." Fred noted to Anne... "In her current condition she might be easily influenced..."

Huh?...Oh yeah...Anne nodded...Dat stuf... "Harmy, you get 'way from dat craz' nut...She's a trador and she's gonna get hers..." Harmony looked back and backed off quietly... "Get ova heer..." Anne frowned...Glaring at a peaceful and content Drusilla who smiled back at her...Nu'case...Souly nu'case...Hmmn...

"Hey, I gots to get dat stuf outta me, right?...Hows we gonna do dat?...Fast..." she looked at Fred...Clearly his formal appointment to his new post hanging in the balance...

"Our staff formulated it...We can find an antidote..." he confidently insisted... "That is, if I could have your permission to put some of the science team back on payroll...?"

Ummn...Well...The new monarch gave a sheepish look...Finances never having been her strong point in any version of her existence...

"I don'...Buf didn'...Haf a lotta cash in da bank...How much I gotta cough up?..." I think the idea is we rob and pillage the city at will under your leadership, ma'am...he explained carefully... "Oh..." she nodded...Gud thinkin'...

Hey, Imda Lieuteny...Harm frowned...Was' up here?...Who's dis ole guy think he's?...she glared at Fred...Who gave a polished, diplomat's smile back...

Up yours, vamp bitch...he thought...

"Whens we gonna see Xanda, Anne?...Ya said we'd go see Xanda!..." she turned to her WH, Incness...

"Drusie says you ain' gonna lemme see Xanda...I wanna see Xanda!..."

"Hey!...I says when we do sumthin'!...The Quean!...Not da liks of ya...!...Ya lil'...Cheerleada..." I's bigga den you, ya lil' shrimpy...Harm glared... "Ya big dum blonde...Ya sec' string Cordy!..." Anne fumed...Hardly the time or place for such a breach in royal protocol...

Harmy and Xanda?...Willow hissed to Giles... "Dru, Harm'ny and Xanda been messin' round?..."

Hind ma bak...she did not say...A slight frown...Well, ok...Hind po'r ole ded Any's bak...Still...

Sec' string Cor'...Harmony stood up, enraged now...Sec' string?...

"I don't believe your friend is aware of Miss Kendall's feelings towards him..." Dru explained... "If I remember my hideous past existence the past few months since she came to live with me correctly...She never mentioned him until...Hmmn...Yes...Did the poor man lose someone dear recently?..."

"Ya fired!...Brok to da ranks, ya dum bimba...Ya stup...Hey!..." Anne cried out as Harmony grabbed at her hair...Bringing her crashing out of her improvised throne to the floor... "Sec' string Cor'...?" Fred and the other Whers watching in shock as the Queen and her Lieutenant rolled on the ground...

"Any'..." Willow nodded... Po'r ole An... "I'm so sorry..." Dru sympathized... "But that must have been when she mentioned him...Told me she felt badly...Of course I..." she paused delicately... "I was, to my shame, not in a condition then...To properly express..."

"Dats ok..." Willow smiled... "Ya cudn't hep yerself..." ...Several "Ows!..."... Crashes..."Ya stup...Gonna kil!.. " rose from the couple on the floor...Hmmn...They and the other prisoners watched Anne and Harmony struggle...The Wolfram-Hart staff keeping a discreet distance...Harmony's outrage at being compared to a junior Cordelia being enough to finally push her to give Anne a degree of trouble...

"Lemme go!...Ya stup...Ima gonna dust ya!...OW!..."

"I ain' no sec string Cordy!...And I wanna go see Xanda!..."

"Leggo my blouse!...Dat's brand...Ohhh!..." Anne howled as her pretty new blouse received major damage...

You lil'...Dum...Ded!..

"Willi'm lik'd it wid me..." Harm escalated to the ultimate...Anne pausing in shock...A hush settling over the entire room...Whoops...

"Spike..." she corrected...Almost soberly, calmly pulling away and sitting up on the floor... "You mean...Spike..." A rather regally terrifying calmness now...

"Willi'm..." Harmony shook her head firmly...Sitting up herself... "His souly boy...He said hi when we was togedder afta he came out sometimes causea da chip..."

"You...Mean...Spike...And ya lyin' about him, too..." Anne repeated...Calmly... "You didn' know bout Willum..." A hard, menacing, and anything but inebriated look coming over her face...

Oh, God...Giles eyed her...

He'd seen that look before...Would-be Prime Minister Fred sensing potential disaster as well...

"Willi'm...I mean...Him...Soul guy...He tol' me he lik'd it..." Harm caught the look and vaguely sensed the danger...But was beyond caring...I mean, after all... "second-string Cordelia?"...

Some things are just beyond endurance...

"When he tel ya dat...?" Anne asked in a cold voice, rising to her feet... "Wha's da day?...Wha' time?...Where?..."

"Jes' 'for we tried ta get the doc ta get da chip out..." Harm eyed her coolly, rising as well...A kind of suicidal courage now filling her... "We wus doin' it...And he says... 'Harm, I'm sor', to let ya be used like dis, girl...'...Real quiet...And den... '...you musta been a sweet soul to be so kind to me...'...And den he was back to being Spike...Ya know...So I knew it musta been his soul...Telling me he lik'd it..."

Ladies...? Fred made a feeble try...

"Yous a liar!...You..." Anne choked, fumbling for words... "He wudn't talk ta da the liks of ya...Ya bimba...'Sides..." she calmed slightly... "You didn' say he said he lik'd it..."

"Dat wha' he meant..." Harmony insisted firmly...Anne reddening even in the demon face she'd taken...

Pure murderous rage radiating from every pore...

Hmmn...Willow looked over...As did Allyson...Anne glaring round the room...Harmony, a bit off her adrenaline high now taking defensive mode...Anne, trembling now, fists clenched...Looking frantically for...

"Bye, guys...Nice knowin' ya..." Willow looked at the others... Dru kindly nodding...

Now I lay me down to die...I know my soul will fry on high...Fred and several other W-Hers prayed within...Demon Chester and others, a bit more practical by nature, looking anxiously for the next exit...

"Giles!..." Anne cried, rushing over... "It ain' true?...You know ma Willy...Say it ain' true?...Ahhhhh!..." she burst into tears, collapsing to her knees beside the Chairman...Oooooh!...She buried her face in his side...

Didn' mean to hur' her feelin's...Harmony noted, embarrassed, to Fred...

The sub-subbasement storage vaults of the former Wolfram-Hart tower...New offices of Angel, Wyndham-Price, Gunn, and Walthrop...Late Sunday afternoon...

William eyed Dawn as he, she, and Xander stood in front of the sealed vault...She reading over Wes' instructions for deactivating the mechanism and the magics protection...

"Say...Dawny?...How'd ya know about the 'cult stuf vaults...?" he asked...Bracing himself to stand more or less erect...

"I didn't...It was merely a logical assumption that they'd have such a place...This is, after all, the former HQ of an organization obsessed with the occult, Will..." she grinned...

"Gud enough..." he woozily nodded, grinning a crooked grin back...

"Xander...?" she looked at him... "I'm going to be fair to your intelligence and assume you realize William and I don't intend to sit here waiting while Wesley and you go off without our help..."

And that you'd prefer to go with us, rather than be ko'd and then locked in the vault here for the duration?...

"Yeah..." he sighed... "I kind of figured you two would pull something like this...Thanks for not assuming I'd be utterly clueless, Dawn...And for letting me in on the action..." he grinned...

She nodded, smiling... "You're the one who sees all, Xander...And I believe that..." Anyway, first things first... "We've got to get some protection for William here before we can head out..."

Of course, Will...she frowned...

"This doesn't mean I'm ok with you two...Especially if the marriage thing turns out to be..." she noted, a bit grim again... Marriage?...he stared... "How'd ya know about 1880?...I didn' say about dat...Buf's soul tell ya?..."

"I knew it!..." she raged... "That moronic blonde dolt!...I..." she blinked... "1880?..."

"Don' know if it's still legal all dat time ago and all...And her name bein' differ'nt den..." he noted...

Ooooooooohhhh!...Anne continued her howl...Even as Giles did his best...Untied now at Fred's executive decision...Patting her head gently...

Either we let him try to calm her down or we all die right now...he noted to his fellow WH-ers

Harmony herself feeling rather badly...Poor kid was taking it so hard...And heck maybe she had exaggerated Will's feelings...

"Anne..." Giles sighed... "You know William loves Buffy...As Spike did...In fact, a large part of that love must have come from whatever bit of his soul somehow protruded back into our dimension earlier...I'm sure of that..."

"Ya don't udderstand..." Anne shook her head... "William...!...Ooooooohhh!..." she was off again...

"Ya, Giles...Will wuz her hubby...Dat's why she's so pissed..." Willow explained... "Back in 1890..." 80...Anne corrected... "Yeah, 1980..." 18 an' 80...Stup...Anne sighed...Hey..Willow glared...

"Yeah..." the vampiress nodded to Giles' startled face... "I...wus...Cicely Anne Addams... 'member me?...Da bes' of da bes'..." she said proudly... "Willum's wife...Too days..." she held up four fingers... "Den..." she looked at Dru...Coldly...As Dru looked sheepishly down at her feet...

"I...We...Cic and me...Sent him away..." she sighed... "And Drusie got 'im..."

"We wus tryin' to saf him...Haly and ma Watcha said..."

"Halfreck...?" Giles stared at her... "Yeah, she wuz ma vd...not Dawny's...VENGENANCE DEMMIN..., I don't mean I got da clap!...Don't mak' fun!... " she glared at Allyson, Dru, Willow...Brenda clearly still too out of it to mak' fun...

"Certainly not, Anne..." Dru nodded... "But go on and tell Mr. Giles what happened..."

Yes, please...The WH-ers clustered round eagerly noted...Especially if it extends our lives even a few seconds...

"He died...All 'lone..." Anne wiped a tear... "Thinkin' maybe we didn'..." she sobbed a bit... "But we did...Botha us..."

Me first, course...I luved him even fore Cics...she hastily added...And lots more...

"And den...We couldn't find him...Anywheres in da afterlife...Heaven, Hell...Nowheres...hic...Oh.." she paused... "...Cuse...And 'cuse cause I forgota say...He rose, we couldn' trac him, we died...Cics, I mean...And our babe..."

"Sos...We cum tagedder betw the dimensions...An' talked it all out ina way...And Cics worked it all out to cum back afta him...Cause we knew he hadda be here...Waitin' for us...Thinkin' it was jest a mistake...But not knowin' all the time passin'...And havin' to watch Spike..." she sighed...Poor Will...

He don' like killin' ma Will...He's a gent, first-class...she beamed...And killin' and hurtin''s for vulgarians...Ummn...she looked a bit sheepish...

"And you haven't done either yet, Anne..." Dru noted kindly... "Yeah, kep it up stup...And he won' be mad at ya..." Willow chimed in...Still a bit miffed...

"All we hadda do wus cum bak, finda souly vamp, tell him it wuz us cum to find him and all's hunky-dory..." Anne shook her head... But no...

"Da world's gotta be in danga...Again...From your grand-daddy...And then ya dad had ta show..." she glared at Dru... "And Buf got all confused...She didn't know much but she was lookin' for a souly vamp...Cause Cics and me wus pushin'..."

It all got screwed...Ang'l got in the way...Will show'd up late...she sighed...And Buf nearly killed...she sobbed again...

"But she couldn'..." she raised her head, beaming... "Cause she's us, deep down...And she couldn' kil our Will..."

My demon God...So the story Joseph told us was true...One W-H staffer eyed a comrade...Geesh...We might at least have tried to help...he noted...

Phil, we're the bad guys...We don't 'help'...

"Den the chip and Willow's love spell hepped out...Thanks, Willa..." she called...Willow waving back...An'time...

And then...Bitch-goddess cum ta town...But it wuz ok...Cause Willy gets Spike to show Buf he luvs us...Buf croaked and Willa... "Thanks, Willa..." An'time...

Brought us all back...And Cics stronger now...And Willy...

"Ya saw him dat year Willa...Giles, I wish ya coulda been there for da whole thing...Wow wus he gud...My Will..." she beamed...

And den he got the soul bak in front, all da way...she smiled fondly... "Ma hero..." she said without sarcasm...

But...Buf wus scared...She jes cum bak, she didn' know all bout Will and Cics' stuf was only scarin' her more, pushin' at her ta luv our Will more den ever...

"Den..."

The W-Hers held their collective breaths...All gathered round now...Oh...Harm held a hand to her mouth...I think I know wha' happens nex...Oh...she eyed Anne sympathetically...

"He ded again...Beat da First Evil...Hah...Ma Willum...Bitch couldn' tak him...Hah!..."

Yeah!...one staffer slammed fist into palm...Oh, right...Our First Lady of Evil...he went quiet as Fred glared...

"And he cum back again...To find me...Sos I can tell him it wuz all all right...We nefa stopped luvin him...Oh..." she sighed...

"The babe..." she looked at Giles... "Gil's wha' I gonna tell him?...He didn' even know..." she put her head down and sobbed again...Harmony coming over to pat her...Annie I's sorry...Willum luvs you...He don' luv me...she murmured...

"Hell, I knows dat!..." Anne raised her head...Glaring...But calmed... "But thanka Harm...I's sorry too...You ain' no sec string Cordy...Yous first in ma bok...And Xanda's gonna be real flattened to know ya lik' him...Even if he kil's ya..."

"Well...Anne, if you truly love William..." Giles eyed her...

Uh-no...she shook her head...

"I ain' going bak to Hell, Giles...I gots ma chance, thanks to Buf herself and Im stayin'...Let Buf taka hike...I wants Willy for me...I shared him and wha'd it get me?...And him?..." she noted... No way...Buf and Cics taka hike...Annie's here to stay...

"I luvs him best...And Im gonna stay...He'll get used ta me afta while...I grows on peeple..."

Fred?...One of his comrades eyed the would-be Prime Minister...

Eh...Fred wiped a tear...So shoot me...I love happy endings...

"I Love Ya...Truly..."

PG-13

Summary: With the aid of some demon brew, a little party at Angel's new offices to celebrate William's resurrection in LA gives Buffy her chance to say it and prove it...The hard way...

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Archived at the Cicelyverse page of the Buffy Rebecca verse, ...Or direct to story at .

Part XXXI...

Limbo...Early Sunday evening, LA time...

A fuming...Silently, naturally, given the presence of three spirits who'd thoroughly enjoy any excuse to cause him intense suffering...And two, Tara-Dru and Heinrich Nast, who could and had caused it...demonic essence Angelus had glumly followed in the wake of Cicely-Buffy and her friends...

Things just not working out for Evil this particular Sunday despite the usual fine opening...Buffy transformed and her demon loose upon the world...Her very soul endangered by the despair and shame triggered on learning of her past existence as Slayer Cicely Anne Walthrop, nee Addams, and her role in the death and condemnation of her husband, William Soames Walthrop aka Spike...The same Spike in similar soul danger, given William's role in transforming his beloved...

All this bright start for nothing, it now seemed...With Cicely-Buffy's spirit contentedly engaged in contacting and learning from the trapped souls of Limbo...No doubt planning to decisively better their lot on her successful return to Earth...And from what he could learn via his Hell masters, Anne...Buffy's vicious but wildly loving demonic essence...Doing little or nothing to secure the situation back among the living...Far more interested by all accounts in persuading William that she'd be a preferable mate to her soul 'sister' than in furthering the cause of Evil...

Shocking...Still, having been the independent sort himself at times in his existence, Angelus could see a case for wanting to seek one's own path and goals in Eternity...Though, at a time like this...After so many recent defeats...With the First herself rather incapacitated (and currently under strait-jacketed confinement)...

When Evil United needed every minion of Hell to give his/her/its all...Damned stupid romantic bimbo...Just like her damned soul...

Enough to make one consider Redemption...

Well...Nah...But, one could always try faking it for a few decades...He eyed the floating heads of Buffy, Tara, and Nast, just ahead of him...Giving a pleasant smile as Nast frowned back at him...Waving him along to them...

After all, the way his counterpart soul had strung Buffy along the last years before Spike finally won out... "Just wait till I win redemption and then, Buf...Happiness City...

Uh...Girls?...What other girls?...

Oh, those other girls...

Well, they never made me...Truly happy...

And if Dawnie had ever...Really...Needed me...Why I would've been on the first twenty minute train to Sunnydale...

Well, I'd've been happy to give you a loan, Buf...If I'd had actually made any real money...But having my own kid and all now..."

Made one almost proud of one's worthless soul...And surely he, the famed Angelic One...Could do an even better snow job...

That is, if alls for nought and the whole scheme's fit for the toilet and burial at sea...Which was seeming preety likely...Oh, well...At least Buffy was still stuck here and not back with her William destroying our kind on Earth...There was yet a faint hope...

And for the damned hope must always spring Eternal...

It's part of the punishment...

LA...Wolfram-Hart HQ at Doublemeat Palace 10002...Evening...

Anne and Harmony having reconciled their differences yet again...At least, in Harm's case anyway, on the surface...The new Queen of the Damned/CEO of Wolfram-Hart, Inc...Was dispensing romantic advice to her lovelorn lieutenant...

Who was as deep in depression as a smashed vampire could be ...It having come to her as likely that Xander would not be overwhelmed at the prospect of being loved in his turn by a vampire...Much as it might seem an antiquated prejudice in light of Buffy's recent romantic episodes with the Undead...

I mean...Competing with his memories of his lost Anya would be hard enough, but dealable...The fact that he couldn't stand the human Harmony who'd never had a nice word for him...Well, that was the old Harm and it could be credibly argued that she'd grown in the past few years...

But throw in the vampire thing as well?...Did not look promising from the view of romance, she had to admit...As she had, with multiple sighs, to her commander-in-chief...

Who could sympathize...

"Well..." Anne pondered... "Why don' ya see if ya can cut a deal with a soul?...Lik Cics and me did afta we croaked...But I'd try ole Any' cause I gotta tell ya Harm, ya soul?...She's kinda shala, ya know?...Not alotta dep lik ma Buf /Cics..."

Yeah...Harm sighed...She always wuz kinda...Dat way...I noticed ri' frma start...

"Not meanin'...Hic... to bad mouth ya relations..." Anne hastily added...No 'fense takin' Harmony nodded...

"Perhaps you should just kill the fellow?...Transform him?..." a deferentially listening Fred suggested...

"Wha?...The heck you say?...You ever try killin' ma' Xanda?...He tough..." Anne noted rather proudly... Yeah...Harm glared... No lil' guy lik yous gonna kill ma' Xanda...

Ma' Xanda...The two vampiresses glared at each other a sec...Then at the now somewhat nervous Fred again...

" 'Sides...I try an' kil' him...He might get mad a' me..." Harm noted...Oh...Annie...I don' wa' Xanda mad a' me...Ohhh...she teared up...

Who is this "Xanda"?...One of the few remaining W-H vamp staffers hissed aside to the current acting head of Special Projects...A former file clerk who'd hung on through the disasters and mammoth layoffs...He shrugged, watching their new ruler and her minion...Some ordinary human carpenter guy who worked for the Slayer...He's Anyanka's mate, one Frid, one of the last demons still on staff helpfully explained...The one who dumped her at their wedding?...

"You jes' try and hook up wida soul...Woked for me..." Anne nodded confidently...Patting her lieutenant...

"Yeah?..." "Hey, Im here now, ri'?..." the Queen pointed out...

Yeah but...Soul comes in...Demmin flames out?...Harmony eyed her... "I don' wanna be flamed out, Annie..."

Sounds good to me...A watchful Fred thought, sneering behind his obsequious mask of Prime Ministerial deportment...

Oh, that Xander...The vamp staffer nodded to Frid...The one every female demon dreams about now ever since the word about him and Anyanka got out...she did not say, picturing the Internet-downloaded framed photo by her daybed side...

"Eh, souls' is stoopid..." Anne waved an airy hand... "Buffy?...Never catches on ta our Will til it's nearly too late...Then gets him back...No than' ta her...and goes havin' him bite er and off she goes...And here yous truly is..." she smirked...

Wha' a dope...she sneered...But hastily looked over to where her Watcher sat, (watching, naturally she noted approvingly to Harm...Ma' Giles alwa's keeps at it...), securely bound up... Ummn... "Don't mean dat Giles..." she called... "Buf's and Cic's ok...I lik um..."

Don't tell Willum I said she wuz a dope...He'd get mad at me...Please...? she sent a sincerely pleading look the Chairman's way... "All da demmens say dat kinda stuf bout their souls...I's our wa'...I's jus kiddin'..." He gave a slight, kindly nod and, relieved, she returned to her lieutenant, still awaiting her sage counsel...

"Here's wha' ya does Harm...Tell Harm or An the soul yous wants to cuta deal...She comes bak, but you gets to stay round too...Ya get her to hep ya get Xanda ta lik ya...Den...Ya bumps her off and yous gots Xanda..." a rather snide grin...

Yeah?...Harm blinks at her Queen...

"Yeah...But only cause I don' wan' him...Cause I gots Will...Cause if I wanted ta kep Xanda too..." Anne frowned a bit...

"You'd be takin' a hik'...The sunny way...But hey...I gots Will and I's a one-guys type..." Urrrrppp!... Ohhhh...Cuse... "Hey!..." she turned, annoyed, to a startled Fred... "When's you guys gonna get dis stuf outta me?...I don' like it...I's barassin'...And i's show...er, slowin' me down..."

"I've recalled a few of our science team boys...They'll get to work on it asap once they get here...Ma'am..."

They betta...she glared...

"Annie...?" Harm stared... "How's I get a souly girl ta come bak in?...Ain't An an' mine up in Heaven wida angels?..."

"Wha's she doin' with Angel's...Wha?..." Anne blinked at her, glaring a bit...Angel...No gud two-timin' sob...Two-timin' Dru faddain'...fa'...sob... "Nah, not Angel's... Angels..." Harm explained...Up dere in Heaven...

Oh...Ri'...

"Whas about ma soul?..."

Hmmn...Anne pondered...How does one do a partial soul restoration?...Oh, yeah...Perfect...

"Ya gotta get a curse, Harm...Lik Angel's...Ya get a curse, souly Harm or An comes bak...The demmin...Thats you...Sticks around and reminds her hows Xanda's a nice guy an' all...Which he is..."

Yeah...Harmony nodded...

Yeah...From the sidelines, the vamp staffer, one Terry, sighed...Hmmn...Soul curse, eh?...

"Den ya get her to mess round wid him...And dumb souly girl's so happy she gets kick'd ri' bak ta Heave...Urrrpp...n..."

Ohhh... "Somebudy gemme a bucket?...Qik!..." Anne turned to the W-Hers standing by...One hastily brought the nearest...A trash can...

Splash...Ohhh...

Hmmn...Giles eyed the groaning new Queen of the Damned as her new minions kept the receptacle carefully positioned...Harmony patting her...If she unloaded all that brew...And recovered...

Still...He glanced at Willow's wavering head...It did seem like the brew in the bloodstream was quite sufficient to maintain the effect...Dru now caught his eye...Glancing quickly at Harmony...Who'd now left Anne to the care of Fred and the other W-Hers and was stumbling back her way...

"Gotta use da..." she covered her mouth as Fred looked up from where he delicately held the new ruler of W-H's moaning head...

That way...he pointed...

"Say, George..." Terry, the female vamp staffer eyed the jumped-up head of Special Projects... "We used to have Angel's curse on file back at the main vaults didn't we?...To analyze the potential loop-holes?..."

"Guess so..." George shrugged...

The subbasement occult materials storage vaults of the former Wolfram-Hart tower...Sunday evening

"Gentlemen..." Dawn announced...Holding up a rather ancient-looking scroll in one hand...And what looked rather like an ordinary rock in the other... "I believe this is what we're looking for..."

"What's in the scroll...?" Xander looked at it...

"Hmmn?...Oh, this is just to aid us in getting out...And a little something for Will here...This is the important thing..." she waved the rock...

"It's a tracking stone...Designed to lead demonic assassins to their hapless victims..."

Xander and Will eyed it...Then her...

"That?..." Xander...

"This..." Dawn nodded firmly, frowning at the obvious lack of faith in her newfound ability... "It's very simple, you provide it with the scent of the victim...It heats as you near the designated target...Goes cold as you move away..."

It was designed for the most brainless of demons so it should suit you two just right...

"We can use this to find Anne..." she gave their puzzled, if somewhat annoyed faces a duh?...Morons?...look...

"Bu' Dawnie..." Will began... "We don' got..."

"Oh yes we do..." she smiled at him...Tapping his stomach...

Hmmn...Xander stared...

"And it would probably not hurt to get the remaining brew out of your stomach in any case...Along with my idiot sis' blood..."

Makes sense...William thought...But...

"Hows you gonna get...?"

She tapped the scroll...Confers Immortality in exchange for one's soul on page one...

Invisibility, incorporeality spell on page two...Very short-lived but perfect for dodging tracking sensors and passing through alarmed doors...

Purgative on page three...

"And all the ingredients are here in the vault...To their credit, the W-H senior partners had strong faith in traditional medicine..."

Xander?...she turned to him... "Grab that box of ingredients there while I start mixing this glop up ...We'll slip out and do...Our other business..." she eyed Will with a narrow smile...Clearly relishing that part of it... "As soon as we've got away from the other guys..."

Then we go Anne-huntin'?...Will grinned...Yeah, she nodded...A grin back in spite of herself...

Can't be mad forever at a guy like this...Death, destruction, ancient purgative, and if his tale was true...Even vamp transformation couldn't make him quit on sis...

Providing he kept it up...And he and Angel made a go of the law firm thing...He might...In time...Possibly...Just possibly...

But then again if the 1880 thing was true...

"Will?..." Xander himself still obviously shocked by this one... "It's really true?...You and Buffy?..."

"Cic'ly...Lik I tol' ya..." William frowned... Yeah...Married two days...Den...he drew a line across his throat...

"Not her fa'l..." he gallantly added... "Dru and all, ya know..."

"But if she was Slayer even den...er then..." Dawn hastily corrected... "How could she let you...?"

I dunno...he shrugged... "We gotta ask her...Say?...Kin wes call up Buf's soul now?...There gotta be seance stuf here, ri'?..."

"Might not be a bad idea, Dawn..." Xander nodded... "I'd say we need all the help we can get right now..."

"Not until we're out and away from the others..." Dawn shook her head... "They'll be down here soon enough anyway...And Wesley has probably activated the external alarms down here already just in case we'd try anything so foolish as going out on our own..."

"How's that secure cam film loop of us doing by the way?..." she nodded at the security camera...Xander smiling...His bit for the common effort... "Should hold Wes and Angel for a few more minutes when they try to check on us...But they will eventually notice they're watching us doing exactly the same things over and over..."

Or at least Wes will...

"Then best we head out...Ready, Will?..." she eyed her br...Oh, no...Not til the last possible moment and irrefutable proof is in...

Eyed her sis' insane romantic mistake...Better...Much...Still...She looked at his swaying, but determined form as he nodded back to her...Reddy...

Eh, what the hell...Sis' possible dating choice...

Acceptable...

Bus enroute to the former W-H tower...Sunday evening...

"You sure this is a good idea, Lilah?..." Joseph looked at her...

You gotta better one?...she eyed him..."Look, Joseph...Angel and William will deal if they think we can lead them to Anne...You know they will..." she noted...

Yeah, but...he sighed...To throw away the one blessing Fate and insane True Love had granted them in recent memory...Help the Light throttle the one bright spot for Evil in so long...

Shove one up that ungrateful bitch Anne's...And regain his command...Yeah...

"Think Angel might let us watch them drive Anne back to Hell?..."

Or to dust...Lilah smiled at him... "If we handle things right..."

Hmmn...A stalemate...And dead Summers lost to them forever...William in despair or more likely dust himself after a self-staking...

Not a bad outcome at that...He described his thoughts to Lilah who nodded in agreement...Not bad at all...

"'Course it will redouble Angel's brood afterwards...Blaming himself for his friends' deaths..." she sighed... "He'll come hunting for us looking like Johnny Cash on a downer day..."

Part XXXII...

"I Love Ya...Truly..."

PG-13

Summary: With the aid of some demon brew, a little party at Angel's new offices to celebrate William's resurrection in LA gives Buffy her chance to say it and prove it...The hard way...

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Archived at the Cicelyverse page of the Buffy Rebecca verse, ...Or direct to story at .

Part XXXII..

Ground floor of the former Wolfram-Hart tower, Sunday evening...

"Now, Miss Kennedy..." Wes patted her as she sobbed... "I promise we'll get you home as soon as we rescue Ms. Summers and the others...If you'll just pull yourself together...Slayer..." he eyed her sternly... "And help us...We can set things to rights that much faster...All right?..." he smiled at her tear-streaked, red face...

Yeah...she sighed... Sor'... "Not at all...I understand...I get lonely myself for England and my family at times..." Wes nodded...

Ah...The Old Cuntry...Fam'ly...Angel sighed... "Angel..." Wes looked at him... "Lets put a lid on the misty-eyed reminiscing on the past for a bit shall we?...We need you both as focused as possible right now...Especially if Anne has found help and taken action against the Chairman and the others..."

Ri'...Angel nodded as decisively as he could...

"Slayer...If you would watch the phones and the cameras while Angel and I review the archives on disk here...We'll need to get moving asap..." Kennedy gave a swaying nod which was reasonably close enough to a yes...

"Deys still dere?..." A wobbily-but-determined-to-display-a-leadership-kinda-posture Angel eyed Wesley who quickly glanced at the security camera screen for the occult materials storage vaults...

"Yes, Dawn and William...And Xander...Are still down there...Dawn seems to be behaving herself for once and keeping the others in line...A triumph for demonic formulations..."

Though...Andrew seems to have...he began... "Andrew?..." he and Angel looked up as Andrew came through the main stairwell door...

"Gentlemen..." Andrew called as he approached... "Miss Summers requested I bring you some of what we've managed to uncover in the dank and musty reaches of the Wolfram-Hart chamber of secrets..." he lifted a bag and emptied its contents onto Wesley's temporary research desk...

"Mr. Wells...Do you mind?..." Wes glared at his now-buried books and keyboard...Ooops...Pardons... Andy swept some of the items back...Several falling onto the floor...One or two suddenly developing limbs and scurrying off as Angel blinked at them...Hmmn...

"Anyway...Nothing especially useful for our purposes as yet...But Miss Summers naturally wished to keep you informed, Mr. Wyndham-Price..."

Uh-huh...Wes frowned...Glancing again at the security camera screen...Well, still there...

Now...Andrew gave a slight, solemn head nod... "I shall return to assist our comrades in their diligent, but of course, absolutely safe labors below...I..."

Whoa...He pointed to the main lobby in the front of the building...Where two figures now stood...Angel and Wes staring after him...

"Hey, Wesley..." Lilah waved pleasantly... "Angel, how's it going?..." Joseph beside her giving a brief but resigned nod...Gentlemen...

Limbo...Sunday night, LA time...

"Harmony..." Buffy's floating head, Tara-Dru's and Nast's beside her called to the sad, stricken face eyeing them...

"Please...I want to help you...I will help..."

"You left me here..." Harmony's head shook slightly...Cold anger now filling her face... "It was all a joke for you and the others..."

Harmony...Buffy sighed...Turning to Nast... "Why is she trapped here?...She wasn't an evil person, she didn't deserve..."

"None of the people here..." Nast eyed her carefully... "Deserved this...Or to lose their lives in such a manner...The ones who did, never left their demons...They're on Earth, merged with their counterparts or suffering in Hell...At their own choice, lost in evil..."

"You can't understand..." Harmony frowned... "You've never been left here...Watched It kill and torture in your body...With your mind and memories guiding It...Knowing It's you...Your darker half..." she drifted away, waving the pleading Buffy off...But remained off at a distance, watching...

And being watched...By someone whose hope, though faint, was again on the rise...

"I'm sorry, Harmony...Please..." Buffy called, turning to Nast again... "Why?..."

"My dear girl...If I knew why..." he shrugged... "But perhaps it's because these poor souls still feel they have lives on Earth to finish...Can't release their grip...Your William was like that, only more so...And their demons play on that...Try to drive them to despair..."

"They're not weak, Buffy..." Tara-Dru chimed in... "Nor anymore sinful than you or Will or me...But something is holding them here...Maybe the hope of a return...Maybe some vague desire to fight the demon..."

"You said William was 'more so'...He stayed with Spike on Earth?...How was that possible?..."

Nast shook his misty, fading head... "Again, if I knew..." he gave a faint smile... "But he's not the first to do so...Though I've never heard of a soul hanging on such a long time without merging with its demon...His must needs be quite a unique and determined one..."

And the love that led him to stay and hope equally unique...he smiled a bit more widely...

Har...mony...Angelus gently hissed to her floating, shifting shape...

Wait...Buffy looked round...Tara-Dru eyeing Nast...She's beginning to...

"I was here...Wasn't I?..." she took her Cicely form now... "Before I became Buffy...I was here..."

"Why didn't you tell me, Tara?..." "We thought it best for you to remember it, Cicely...It's not a pleasant memory to surface, being trapped here for so long..."

She closed her eyes a moment..."Nearly a century of waiting...Pleading...Until the Powers That Be needed me back on Earth...And I forced them to accept my terms..."

"Your counterpart is seeking your return, Harmony..." Angelus quietly noted as they drifted together... "For her own reasons, naturally...But...If you were willing to consider aiding us...I can tell you that some of the Powers That Be, both of the Light and Darkness...Might look upon your assistance in maintaining the vital balance in existence very favorably...Perhaps even to the extent of helping you regain your mortal existence..."

"Right..." she eyed him, a scornful look... "I'm gonna stop Buffy the Vampire Slayer from coming back to Earth?..."

"If you were to return...In a powerful vampiral body..." Angelus smiled faintly... "And poor Anne were occupied with other foes...An opportunity to do yourself permanent good might present itself..."

And an opportunity to be avenged on those who left you to suffer here...Laughed at your sufferings for years...Harmony stared at the angelically beaming face...

"Bastards..." Cicely grimly whispered...Formless, misty tears streaking her shifting, lovely face... "They refused my prayers for my suffering husband, kept my child from me so long as I chose to stay here trying to reach my poor Will instead of moving on to Heaven...But then the Light needed me to save Humanity again...The Greatest of the Slayers had to come back in service to fight the foes Hell was now to vomit up...And I made them deal..."

"Made them send me back with a chance to save him and..." she paused...Yes...she smiled, light breaking out... "To bring Amelia with me when the monks provided me the opportunity, the self-righteous, crazed little fanatics...To let him finally meet our daughter..."

Dawn...Tara-Dru nodded...Your gift to William...But Cicely...

But...Cicely's face darkened... "They did their best to sabotage that chance...Kept the memories from me and Dawn...Nearly let me destroy all that was left of my poor Will...And waved Heaven in my face when I died again, trying to keep us apart..."

"Liars...Betrayers...Murderers...This the reward I got for doing my duty, saving their little experiment on Earth with souls and mortal beings?...I should be helping Anne find a way to kill them all, the bastards...These Powers That Be who love to jerk us around forever...Yes...Shatter their precious balance forever...Destroy their dear mortal Humanity and leave their pretty Earth burning..." she muttered quietly... "The immortal souls would thank us both in the end, I think..."

Cicely... Tara-Dru shook her head sadly...Nast looking at her worriedly...Angelus off in the distance, concealing himself near Harmony, perked up at the wave of dark emotion, looking over...

Hope definitely rising this lovely Sunday evening...

Basement of the former W-H tower...

"Dawn?..." Xander looked to her...She, standing by the door of the stairwell...Waiting...Rather anxiously...William watching her sympathetically...

Waiting nervously for her beloved's safe return from potential danger?...God, he'd sure been there...

"Dawn...If we're gonna go...While the scroll spell lasts...And before Wes catches on to my little camera trick..."

Ok, ok...she waved a hand... "I just wanted to give him a chance to get back to us..." William gave her a comforting smile... "Ole And'll ketch up...hic...To us...Dawnie...Don' ya wor'..."

Hmmn...She frowned at his swaying form...Coming from you, you sis-transforming drunken dolt...

Still, he meant well...She ended with a slight smile and nod back... "All right, lets go..." she nodded to Xander...

"Careful...And don't waste time...Just walk straight through..." she pointed to the vault wall...

You sure about this?...Xander looked at her...Then the rather solid-looking vault wall...Steel, reinforced concrete...Not something you'd want to get stuck in if a spell suddenly failed...

"It'll be fine Xander..." Yeah, Will nodded...And walked into and dissolved within the wall where she'd pointed...

Hmmn...Best we get along after him...she noted, unable to repress a little pleasure at his confidence in her...That's my brot...whoa...Ummn... "Lets hurry, Xander...In his current state, he might easily get lost in there..."...She went to the wall...Xander tentatively feeling with his hand...Which entered the tiling then the metal beyond without hinderance...Whoa!...He jerked it back...As Will's head emerged in front of him...

"Yous guys cumin or no?...Get da led out..." he eyed them...

Right with you, William...Dawn replied...And entered the wall, Xander following...

Part XXXIII...

"I Love Ya...Truly..."

PG-13

Summary: With the aid of some demon brew, a little party at Angel's new offices to celebrate William's resurrection in LA gives Buffy her chance to say it and prove it...The hard way...

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Archived at the Cicelyverse page of the Buffy Rebecca verse, ... Or direct to story at .

Part XXXIII...

Sunday evening...LA...Lobby of the former Wolfram-Hart tower, by the main security desk...Unoccupied at present due limited funds of the new owners...Where Wesley, Andrew, and a rather wobbly Angel confronted their unexpected and unwelcome guests...

"So...Wesley...Angel...Tucker's brother..." Joseph nodded to Andrew... "As I've outlined we share a common foe...Surely you can see that joint action is called for here..." a beaming Joseph at his most diplomatic and congenial...

"Do you want to kill them, Angel?...Or shall I?..." Wes looked at a swaying but sternly frowning Angel...

Geesh...Lilah thought...And I thought we had something...On his part, anyway...After he saved me from Angelus...

At least the usual needy desire and insistence that he can win me over to the Good of most of my beaus from the Light side...

"Wesley..." she gave her most appealing and soulfully sincere look... "We don't expect you to trust us...But we've put ourselves at your mercy...And we are in danger as well as you...Can't you at least hear us...?"

"Speak to my boss...He's right here and still reasonably capable of understanding you, despite your efforts..." Wesley eyed her coldly, indicating the now sitting and therefore somewhat more stable Angel...Who nodded...Dats ri'...Da Bos' may be a lil' outta sorts but he's still the One...

Not counting romance 'course...he sighed within...But hey, Darl's soul's still available...Mudda of ma chil'...

Ma would prefer I go that route...Make Connor legit and all...

"Now gentlemen..." Joseph began... "Need I point out it was not we who released our joint foe?...And that it being the demonic essence of the Greatest of the Slayers, twice over..."

However plastered currently...

"She must be destroyed...With extreme..." Boss...Lilah hissed...As Angel rose, glaring...And Wes moved forward...

Er...He looked at the two bearing down on him... "I mean, of course, captured and restored at all costs...Only the monster within destroyed..."

Wes for his part, startled as Lilah moved between them and Joseph...A rather sincerely anxious look on her face...Believably sincere in fact...

Please don't hurt him...In every feature...

Him?...Wes looked at the bald little demon in his rumpled suit, trying to maintain a properly commanding air of being one of Evil's movers and shakers ...Wealthy and powerful enough even for her in his day, for sure...But clearly not doing so well just at the moment...Him?...

Well, who can understand love?...Angel and Andrew likewise standing puzzled as they stared at Lilah in defensive position...

"She lik's him?...Wes?...Thought you and her?..."

"Ancient history..." Wes replied...Hey?...Lilah glared...What kinda crack is that?...

Likes me?...Joseph blinked...Regarding the Lilah blocking his enemies in front...

Nah...She's just pulling for that next promotion and raise...It couldn't be...

Likes...Me...He thought in wonder...

"Please hear us out Wesley..." Lilah pleaded... "It really could be to your and Buffy's benefit..."

Sunday evening...LA...The dining area of Doublemeat Palace franchise #10002...Current Wolfram-Hart HQ...And current throne room of the new somewhat unda da weda Queen of the Damned...

A rope-bound Giles leaned to the stoutly-chained Drusilla...Chained, and now with a holy circle round her chair adding to her restraint and preventing her from using her hypnotic powers on any of the W-Hers at hand...Though most were currently distracted by their new Queen's urgent need of assistance...Willow and Slayers Allyson and Brenda under similar restraint in chairs near them...

Ohhhh...Another moan as Anne kept her aching head as near the provided waste bucket as possible... "Cold towel!...Bring another cold towel!..." Former W-H VP and current Prime Ministerial candidate Fred snapped to various staffers at hand...

"Dru?...What did Harmony say to you just now?..." Giles hissed... Harmony having done a fairly-believable stumble by Dru on her way to the bathroom, suffering from similar tummy-troubles...

"She'll do what she can...If Mr. Harris shows up...Else I'm afraid we're on our own...I'm afraid her motives are not of the purest sort, Mr. Giles..." Dru sighed quietly...

Well...Keeping trying to persuade her...She nodded and he looked over to Willow...Who was determinedly, though to little avail, still trying to loose her ropes while thinking up an appropriate low-power spell...Unfortunately not only her imbibed load of brew making it difficult to do either, but Fred having taken the precaution of placing one of the firm's only remaining mystic energy-draining Orbs of Callos near her...There was little hope of her regaining any significant power for the present...

She glanced at Giles... "Get it in a min' Gil's...Get reddy ta bust out..." she hopefully called...Attracting the attention of the few W-Hers available for guard duty...Several others leaving their ministrations to the new Queen to check their most dangerous prisoner's restraints at Fred's hasty order...

Hmmn...Giles sighed...Well, can't fault her as to that enthusiastic can-do attitude...Wish she'd get over that brew though...

Slayer Allyson to Willow's right eyeing her Chairman for any instructions as she likewise if with more caution felt out her bonds...Poor Brenda, still Anne-enthralled, to her right, lost in her dreams...

A real cause for concern, Giles noted to himself...As soon as Anne recovered, her strutting new chief assistant...He glared at Fred now over to check on Willow himself...Anne still preoccupied...Was sure to suggest the completion of the next Slayer-vampire's transformation...Perhaps lengthening the odds to the breaking point...

And while Brenda was a sweet girl...Lacking as she did Anne's attachments to them...She was sure to be less hesitant about doing them major harm...

Then of course her demon might be the competitive type...In which case a Slayer-vamp unenfeebled by demonic brew might prove a tough fight even for the new Queen...

And he was no more willing than William to give the hope of Buffy's restoration up just yet...

"Ohhh..." Another moan from the temporarily incapacitated Queen..."Gonna kil' whoever came up wi' dis stuf..." she vowed...

Already anticipated that and had it done...a returned Fred soothingly noted...She looked at him...Wha?...

"Ya killed the only guy who knows how ta mak' dis stuf?..." she fumed a brief second...Ohhhh...A quick dive back...Phew...Fred backed off to a reasonably safe distance in the moment provided...

"A junior level researcher...And the fool didn't know how to reverse the spell..." he explained hastily... "We got the formulation from him before his execution of course...Our lead researchers will be on their way as soon as we can inform them they're rehired...They'll crack this one in a few hours, I'm sure..."

Dey betta...She glared at him again...Cause I don' feel so gud...And wen I don' feel so gud...

"Nobody does...Get me?..."

Er... "Yes, ma'am..."

LA...Alleyway outside the former Wolfram-Hart building...Sunday evening, same time...

Dawn, William, Xander safely through the vaults and building structure and once again visible and corporeal...Had moved on to the next stage of Dawn's plan...

Burrrh...William groaned...As the vital element for tracking Anne surfaced...

Sor'...he gasped...

Eggh...Xander looked for something, anything to give him a reason to be far away...Ah, right...Protection of our lil' Dawnie...

"I'll check things up the other end..." he hurried off...

Hmmn...Dawn stared after him...Would've thought he'd seen worse than a little regurgitated blood...

"Stay close by, Xander!..." she called... "We'll be heading out in a moment!..."

"Will?..." she turned to him... "Feeling alright..."

"Peachy..." he sighed... Oops...Gangway!...he turned desperately away...

Ah...Effective stuff that purgative...Dawn noted contentedly...

Rather glad it's not the way to clear our brew though...she eyed the groaning William...

Limbo...Sunday evening...Same time...

The spirits of Nast and Tara-Dru trying to console and comfort a raging Cicely/Buffy...Now wrathfully remembering the full extent of the betrayal of her past self and loved ones...And her bitter struggle for a second chance to save her unjustly condemned spouse...

Darkness clearly threatening to gain a grip on her heart and soul...

Angelus's incorporeal essence holding a drifting position near that of Harmony's trapped soul...Having sensed a possible new ally in his efforts to make Buffy's latest trip to the undiscovered country a permanent sojourn...

"Not saying I'm interested...Or committing myself..." Harmony's floated head eyed the shifting...And shifty face by her... "What would I have to do...?"

"Merely wait your chance, my girl..." Angelus smiled benignly... "When your demon tries to summon you back...Be ready to seize the moment...And take your vengeance on those who betrayed you..."

"And I'll be able to stay on Earth...I'll live again...?"

Of course...Angelus lied with all the open-hearted sincerity that had won the trust of ten thousand innocents...Including a certain psychically-gifted nun...

"My friends among the Powers that rule the Universe will grant you anything your heart desires...If you help us now to take vengeance on Buffy Summers/Cicely Walthrop..."

A cold look from Harmony's solid, then mistily formless face...Hooked, he contentedly noted to himself...Just a little more prodding and the right moment...

"Why should I care?...After what they've done to me?...To my William?...My child?...Murderers!..." a harsh cry from where Cicely and the others remained in conference...

Oh, what a beautiful evening...Angelus hummed within...

Everything's goin' my way...

Part XXXIV...

"I Love Ya...Truly..."

PG-13

Summary: With the aid of some demon brew, a little party at Angel's new offices to celebrate William's resurrection in LA gives Buffy her chance to say it and prove it...The hard way...

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Archived at the Cicelyverse page of the Buffy Rebecca verse, ...Or direct to story at .

Part XXXIV...

Limbo...Later that Sunday evening...

A raging, weeping spirit, largely Cicely, occasionally remorphing to Buffy, faced the spirits of Tara-Dru and Nast...Her soul clearly in danger of slipping into the darkness by way of grief, despair, and bitter anger...

A hundred years...she looked out across the empty white wastes... "A hundred years we suffered, kept separated from each other, he in torment on Earth, while here I sat, waited, and prayed in vain...To a God who let me and my child die, and condemned my poor Will to eternal suffering for nothing but wanting to love me..."

And the only chance He or She or Their Powers That Be in Their infinite wisdom offered me was to come back ready to hate and be hated by the one I loved... "Punishment for my daring to take him, you think?..." she looked at the floating face of Tara... "A chance offered me only because I was needed to keep some of Their earlier attempts at creation from destroying the newer experiments..."

"Was She/He/It just not willing to get Their hands dirty?..." she eyed Nast bitterly

"We've all felt as you do, Cicely..." he replied quietly... "When I've had to sit here, helpless as my demon became the monster you knew... 'The Master'...I cursed God and all His/Her/Its creation...I'd been a good man, I knew...I didn't deserve this...To have thousands curse my name, as my darkest side unchained threatened all Humanity..."

But God and The Powers That Be have Their purposes...Perhaps it's because They don't dare interfere, run our existences for us, I don't know...But I still believe there is a purpose...And there is hope...

"After all, Mrs. Walthrop...You saved the world...And you did find and save William in the end..." he noted...

She shook her misty head harshly..."There was no need for him to suffer like this!...And I left him as Spike...He could have existed forever like that and I wouldn't have cared...I didn't find him again...Save him?...I sent him to his death!...Told him I needed Spike back!...Cause the bitch Slayer had a mission...Again...And had to get the job done no matter what..." she broke down, sobbing for a moment...

"Cicely...Buffy..." Tara-Dru corrected as Buffy's face took shape...Eyes closed as the tears ran and faded into the white mist surrounding them...

"When I learned...About It...Was it me, I asked myself?...Was there, could there be something in me that created Drusilla?...Was there that much blackness, Evil in me?...Angelus had told me there was..." Dru's face looked at Buffy's...

And the answer is...Perhaps, yes...I have that within me...That destructive, murderous blackness...But we all do, all humans...

"The one benefit of being here...And maybe it's why in part we're here...Is that we face our darker natures...And come to terms..."

Cicely's angry voice cut her off... "My William is not a monster!...You and Angelus...!" she began...

Buffy closed her eyes and opened them as Tara-Dru in Tara's form winced... "I don't mean that, Tara...I know it wasn't you...I'm sorry...But Will was as innocent as you were...And he was punished simply to punish me for daring to love him...Abandon my post...Well..." Cicely's coldly raging face...

There's only one enemy I want to kill now...she looked grimly at the two spirits...The One who created this game...Played by Its rules...

Angelus, watching quietly by Harmony's spirit...Hiding behind it, actually...Ready to pounce with the offer the Dark Powers had entrusted him with...If things worked out...

"Mrs. Walthrop..." Nast sighed... "There are many like your Will...Who need your help and his...Who have no one strong enough to save them...That's the real task the Slayer..."

She eyed him coolly... "Isn't God strong enough?...Or doesn't It care enough?..."

No...Angelus began mentally rehearsing his speech...And if you'd truly like revenge, Cicely...He waited as Harmony's spirit watched as well...Eyeing him...He noted her gaze and smiled at her, his most charming, just-before-the-kill one... "See how she handles it..." he hissed... "Abandons you to your sufferings with a laugh, but can she handle ten minutes of it herself...?"

"It may necessary that we be Its hands and instruments..." Nast began...Cicely cutting in with a bitter laugh... "Aren't Dru and him, over there,..." she indicated Angelus in the distance who quietly eyed her... "Aren't they Its instruments too?..."

Maybe I've been playing for the wrong team, after all...she eyed them...

Oh, happy day...Angelus beamed...But held back...One mustn't count the chickens before...

"Cicely..." Tara-Dru in Tara form pulled out her last resort... "What would your Will say?..."

Crapshit...Angelus sighed...Why the hell couldn't that bitch soul have caved to my mind games last century?...Fun as my psycho 'daughter' was...Damn...He eyed Cicely's face...There goes that faint hope of immediate victory...

Cicely's floating, shifting face blinked a second...The entire face, including the eyes...Ummn...

"He endured so much for his belief you loved him in spite of what your double Halfreck said to him that night...He stayed by Spike, hoping to find you again on Earth...You're risking eternal death after all you've both been through...How would he feel, hearing you talk like this...?"

Oh...A sob and Buffy's face now took shape... "I'm sorry, guys..." she sighed quietly... "You're right..."

Oh, well...The boys didn't have much hope for her anyway...Angelus sighed to himself...Guess it'll have to be her destruction and William's utter despair and self-condemnation...

Which works for me, natch...Especially if my lout of a counterpart joins them...

"I'll do what I have to for the condemned..." she sighed... "The ones like my poor Will...And from now on that includes trying to help...Whether that spoils God's little schemes or no..."

But don't ask me to pray to that Bastard...she eyed them grimly...

"Well..." she gave Tara-Dru a bitter smile... "My mother-in-law warned me this wouldn't be as easy as I thought..."

Yes...Tara-Dru nodded back solemnly... "And it gets worse, Buffy...Believe me..."

Mmmn...True...She still hasn't seen Anne in action...Angelus' essence picked up a bit...And when she sees that murderous fiend...Her own dark self...And knows it to be her own...

And of course I also have my dear new friend here as back-up...He smiled again at the face of Harmony, staring at him, then the others in the distance...

Two blocks from the former Wolfram-Hart tower...Same time...

"You're sure about the way...Dawn?..." Xander looked at her... She impatiently nodded but held the tracking stone out to him...Ummn...He stared...

Covered in the Buffy blood William had just provided...William, looking back from where he was trying woozily...In overcoat, gloves, and pushed down large hat, to check their flanks as they moved down the narrow street, gagging a bit at the sight...

"It's getting warm...Go ahead and feel it..." she smiled benevolently at Xander's greening face...Uh...

"I'll take your word for it, Dawny..."

Great...She pointed... "That way..." Then glanced back a bit nervously...No sign of...

"Here, William..." she offered the blood-covered stone... "I'm going back to take a quick look-see for Andy..."

"Dawn..." Xander eyed her as William grimaced at the stone in Dawn's hand...Uhhh...Jes...Urgh...A mo', Nibs...He staggered back curbside... "We can't stop now...Wes is sure to figure out our little video illusion soon...And it's not like they'll do anything to Andrew..."

"Wesley might get angry at him when he sees we're gone...Andrew is very sensitive..." Dawn looked back again... "I should go see..."

"Dawn..." Will looked up from where he was leaning over a fire hydrant, trying to recover from his latest bout of nausea... "We gotta find Annie 'fore she hurts somebody...Buf would be so sad if she hurt somebody...Ma poor lil' Buf..." he sighed...

"You might've thought of that before you killed her, you idiot!..." Dawn glared...Then relenting at his sad, if weaving, face... "Well...I suppose you're right...We should press on..." she nodded... "Just wish we could be sure he's..."

Call'im...Will suggested...Now standing and moving to the others... "They don' gotta know where's you callin' from...Tell 'im ta say wes still in da vault..."

"Call?..."...Hmmn...Excellent idea...And I have his cell number...Dawn nodded... "Great idea, Will...Thanks..." she dialed eagerly... "Lets get moving, gentlemen..." she waved the stone with one hand, cell to her ear with the other...

"Andrew?..." she hissed... "Don't ask where we are...Did they figure out...?"

What?...Joseph?...Who?...Oh...One minute...

"Xander?...Do we know a Lilah Morgan?...Works for Wolfram-Hart?..." He shook his head... "Seems she and her boss, a Senior Partner named Joseph, have come with word of Anne..."

"She did?...Really?..."...Dawn had returned to the phone... "Kicked them out and took over...?" A definite, faint grin...

Wha'...? Will stared, looking anxious...

"Anne just took over Wolfram-Hart...Or what's left of it..." Dawn told him...

Oh...he nodded...Eyeing Xander...Naturally...Their expressions saying... "But how are you doing, Andy?...They're not on to us...?" Dawn continued, anxiety in her voice as she, Will, and Xander continued on down the street...

"Remember to tell them I forced you to do it...Good-bye, Andrew..." her voice dropped to a whisper...

Did she just say "my darling"?...Xander and William exchanged looks...

A long talk with our Andrew is clearly in order when we link up again...

The former Wolfram-Hart tower...Evening...

"So you see gentlemen..." Joseph eyed Wesley, a barely-maintaining-his-stance Angel, and Tucker's brother...Now engaged in cell phone conversation with the remaining team members...

Kennedy, now returned from below, recovering from a little voluntary experiment by Wes to see if removal of the stomach's contents via purgative might reduce the brew's effect, lay sprawled in a chair, snoring for all she was worth...

"We share a common enemy...Only by uniting against this menace can we hope to defeat Anne...And restore poor Ms. Summers if at all possible..." he hastily added...

"Nonsense..." Wes glared... "You want us to take her out for you and resume your little empire..."

Well, naturally...Joseph shrugged... "But I'd say you need all the help you can get...And we can take you to Anne straight off..."

Doesn't really matter to me if you stake her or resoul her...he noted... "Just so long as we get her under control before she destroys us all..."

"You'll never be able to take her intact without help, Wesley..." Lilah chimed in... "Angel here is hardly in shape to take her on...And I doubt William the Bloody is doing any better..."

"Thanks to you..." Wes noted sternly... "And if you want to go on living...Let alone have us consider an alliance, even a temporary one, you could start by giving us the antidote to your brew..."

"Wha' Wes said..." Angel attempted a stern look... "And I's no' so bad I can' kil' ya if I wanna..."

Ummn...Well...Joseph eyed Lilah...Who eyed him...

"We actually don't have an antidote per se...Right now..."

"But they've..." Lilah hastily cut in as Wes and Angel frowned at Joseph... "Our old lab staff, I mean...They've been recalled...Anne will have them working on it shortly...And if she's cured before Angel and William..." she looked at Wesley...

Wes turned to Andrew standing off from them speaking into his cell phone... "Andrew, tell the others to take whatever they've found and come up at once..."

"We'd better get over there, Angel..." he turned to him... "If Anne is restored while you two and Willow are still incapacitated..."

I mean considering how she got past you two dolts even when she was completely smashed...he did not say...

Yeah...Angel nodded...Guess we betta...

"But we betta be reddy for her...Cause she's a crafty one..."

"Well, we have two of the most viciously 'crafty' characters on Earth at present now working with us..." Wes smiled coolly at Lilah and Joseph... "And as long as we don't trust them any further than one of our human staff could throw them..."

Hey...Came here in the spirit of cooperation against the common foe...Joseph frowned a bit...

Much as it is nice to have someone who still thinks of us as at least a potential threat...

"Andrew, are they coming?...Tell them we have to get moving..." Wes looked at a rather sheepish-looking Andrew...

Ummn...Well...Mr. Wyndham-Price...he began...

The pulsing nerve center of Wolfram-Hart...Queen Anne's new throne room... In Doublemeat franchise #10002...

"We have our senior science and magics team on its way..." Fred informed Her Anneness...Now feeling a shade better as she sat...

"Dat's gud..." she nodded regally... "Nows I might not hafta start killin' ya all..."

Now as to the major issue...she eyed her new minion coldly... "The thing I real' wanna know is...Where's ma hon'?..."

Ma'am?...

"Willum...Where's he at?...Whatcha got planned to get 'im?...Well?..."

Well...Fred paused... "I would assume he's still..." Urgh...He gasped as she lifted him off the floor from her chair with one hand...

"Dat ain't wha' I wanna hear...Where's he at?...Whatcha got planned?...Well?..." she lowered him...

"We'll...Send...Couple...Human...Agents...Tower..." Fred choked out through her vise grip as the other staffers nervously eyed him and their rather 'We are not amused' new Queen...

"Ok...Dat's betta...But I wan' 'im here...Quick...And in one piece...Got me?..." she glared...

"Yes, ma'am..."

Anne...Harmony came over...Frowning at the retreating Fred who summoned several of the W-Hers...

"Wha' bout Xanda?...You promised..."

Eh...Anne waved a regal hand... "Wen I's good and reddy...William's ma pri...ma furstest guy...Go sid down, kep an eye peeled on Drusie, and shet up..." Go...On...she glared as Harm frowned...

"Willum ain't gonna lik ya treatin' me lik dis..." Harm noted, glaring as she backed off towards Dru and the other prisoners... "He gonna be mad at ya..."

Hmmn...Anne pondered...He might at that...Perhaps a lil' graciousness was called for...

"We'll get Xanda fer ya, Harm...Ya jes gotta wait a lil'...Hey, you!..." she called to Fred... "Fred or wha'ever..."

"Haf ya boys find out where Xanda is...Or else..."

Who?...Fred stared...

"Xanda...Ya stoop..." Anne glared as did Harm...And Willow from her seat, hearing...Wha?...Don' know Xanda?...

"Xanda Harris...Ma lil' spir' bro...Braver o' the brave...Humanwise..." Anne nodded firmly...Yeah...Harm and Willow nodded as well...

"Ya don' know Xanda Harris?..." the Queen glared... Well...Fred looked at his colleagues...Harris, Alexander...Aide to the Slayer...One staffer hissed quickly...Fred pondering...

The better-looking geek who hung around Ms. Summers...the staffer explained...As quietly as possible...

Though not quietly enough... "Geek...!..." Harm glared...Anne rising in wrath from her throne...Geek?...Ma lil' Xanda?...

"Bring dat jackass ova!..." the Queen's angry voice filled the room...Oh-oh...Fred eyed Melvin, the rather hapless...Former...staffer...And waved in two men to seize him...

"Soooo...Ma lil' Xanda is a geek, huh?..." Anne eyed the trembling Melvin...Uh...No...I...

Thank God I didn't say 'oh, that one' aloud...Fred sighed to himself...

Hmmn...She looked up at the ceiling fixtures...Not hungry jes yet...But no need to throw away a good meal...

Say, ma lil' vamp Xanda's first...she grinned coldly at Melvin... "Put 'im up dere... " she indicated the light fixture above... "But don' kill 'im yet...He's gonna be Xanda's dinner when he gets here...And wes see how 'geeky' our Xanda boy is den, huh?..."

Yeah...Harm nodded... "Ya won' be laughin' at ma Xanda den, jerk..." Two staffers brought some strong rope from the back storeroom...Anne, pleased at their alacrity, nodded...They threw the rope over the fixture...Melvin squirming in the grip of his captors...

Yeah!...Willow called... "Hang 'em high, Annie!..."

"Willow..." Giles frowned as Drusilla gave a distressed look... "Anne, please...Be merciful!..." she cried...Sor'...Willow shrugged to the Chairman...But can' let 'im say dat about our Xanda...

"Mr. Giles!..." Dru turned to him as the guards placed the rope about poor Melvin's arms...

"Eh, jes puttin' him up for Xanda, Drusie..." Anne called... " 'Sides...I'm Evil incar...incarnation...And I don' gotta be anythin' I don' wanna...So...Shetup..."

"William will so disappointed, Anne!..." Dru tried...

Ummn...Anne stared...Gee...

Shet...He will at that...Ehhh...She brushed it off... "I tole ya...We ain't killin' dis clown yet...Xanda'll do it..."

Get him up!...she told the guards...Who pulled the rope, raising the struggling Melvin... "Yeah, up wid the basta!"...Harmony waved her hands...Oh...Dru shook and bowed her head, closing her horrified eyes at the brutal spectacle...

"Now, gemme sum news about ma Will...!...Now!..." Anne glared at her somewhat less enthusiastic minions...Who all quickly nodded in unison...Yes, ma'am...

Hmmn...Anne's hardly the most ruthless killer we've ever encountered, Giles thought as Melvin kicked in the air about ten feet above them ...At least where William's good opinion is at stake...We may be able to use that...

On the other hand...Never suspected Harmony was capable of such feeling...

"I Love Ya...Truly..."

PG-13

Summary: With the aid of some demon brew, a little party at Angel's new offices

to celebrate William's resurrection in LA gives Buffy her chance to say it and prove it...The hard way...

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Archived at the Cicelyverse page of the Buffy Rebecca verse,

.

Or direct to story at .

Part XXXV...

Central LA...Evening...

"Straight ahead fellas..." Dawn waved her tracking stone as Xander and Will followed in close support...Will trying his damnest not to stumble any more than absolutely necessary...

Hmmn...She eyed the Doublemeat Palace in front of them to which the stone's warmth was unquestionably leading them...

Maybe Anne's stopped for a snack and to make some friends?...

Lobby of the former Wolfram-Hart Tower building...New home to Angel Investigations...Same time...

"They're based in a Doublemeat Palace?..." Wesley eyed Joseph who shrugged, a tad embarrassed...

"It was a brilliant camouflage..." Lilah hastily insisted, smiling at Joseph... "A perfect place for our forces to regroup after..." We kicked your butts...Wesley nodded, smiling... "...our temporary setback..." she firmly concluded...

Uh-huh...In any case...Wes waved a hand...Angel, standing by him, trying to look the part of solemn, attentive Leader without falling on his face...Unnh...Brew aint setting too...Cuse me...he stumbled hastily down the hall...

Not quite making it...

Eggh...Lilah stared...Somebody get a mop...Oh, right...a slight sneery smile at the thought...These clowns probably can't afford mops, let alone have a maintenance staff...

Probably was a brilliant strategy to retreat and let em take this place...It'll ruin em in a month at most...

"Andrew, would you give Angel a hand?..." Wes sighed to him... "And I haven't forgotten your role in letting those three idiots slip out on us...It's only that I know Dawn that I don't lock you in that containment cell..."

Yes Mr. Wyndham-Price...Andy nodded, hurrying to Angel to help him down the hall...Don' feel sa gud...the new CEO noted as he leaned on his helper, staggering off...

"Well..." Lilah stared after them, then back to Wes... "You've basically got Angel out of the action...A Slayer who can't stand on her feet..." she eyed the snoring Kennedy in her chair...

All thanks to you...he eyed her sternly...

She likes him?...A quick look at Joseph...Geesh...And I thought...He hastily scraped the thought from his mind...

"Whatever..." Lilah gave a dismissive wave...Joseph momentarily taking the silent part, sensing she was making headway...Excellent negotiator that she was, he thought fondly...

Standin' betwixt me and my enemies...Even without full compensation...

Wonder if I should pick up some flowers if time, our likely imminent deaths at Anne's hands, and the remains of our expense account would allow?...Course her proper course of action would then be to nail me to the wall with a harassment suit...Which would be a pretty damned fine one, given her wonderfully acute legal mind...he beamed...

"You need us, Wesley..." she continued... "We need you...Lets be sensible about this..."

What does she like?...I saw lilies on her desk once...

"Very well..." Wyndham-Price nodded... "Under the circumstances, we have a temporary alliance until Anne has been contained...But you are functioning solely as sources of information here...And will follow my orders...Any signs of betrayal, any acts against Anne without my permission or against any of us...One of you goes to the bathroom without asking...And we will kill you..."

"Fair enough..." Joseph nodded... "I accept..." he beamed expansively... "Lets go win back Wolfram-Hart..." he clenched a fist...

"We'll need the details of your..." Wes paused with a slight grin...Lilah frowning... "New HQ..."

"Layout, defenses...Greasy spots on the floor we should avoid..." Lilah's stare went to glare...Very funny... "Say you know I never realized what an echo you could get in this place when the corridors of power are almost empty..." she sneered...

People...Joseph eyed them... "Mr. Wyndham-Price, time for both of us is of the essence...Especially if that fool Spike is on his way to Anne right now...If she can persuade him to join her..."

"I seriously doubt that is a worry..." Wes shook his head... "Buffy had complete faith in William's soul's recovery..."

"Was that before or after he killed her?..." Lilah grinned...

"Even so..." Joseph put up a hand... "Once she has him in her grip, there'll be no restraint on her...Except, thank us, our demonic brew...She'll be free to move against us all...And she may even try to restore Spike to his former glory..."

They together then creating an army of Evil unrivaled since the days when we really kicked ass on this planet...he noted fondly...

"Not that we want that..." he added hastily...As Lilah eyed him carefully, noting Wes' frown...

Watch it, boss...

"We of Wolfram-Hart are for stability and balance in our mutual contest...Violence and chaos of the Angelus variety are bad for business..."

Uh-huh...Wes eyed him coolly...

"Angelus was a tool that second time..." Joseph noted...And no world-destroying nonsense that time, I might point out...

Though the bastard did betray us to Jasmine...Treacherous, disloyal, worthless...If it hadn't been for him...

"Boss..." Lilah hissed... "Alliance...Focus..." Right, right...he nodded...

My Lilah...Always lookin' out for me...Say...Lily, Lilah...No wonder she likes 'em...

"Anyway, let me show you the layout..." Joseph pulled out a diagram of the store from his suit side pocket...A Senior Partner must always know where the exits are at any Wolfram-Hart division, he explained...

He shouldn't get too excited... Lilah nervously hissed to Wesley as Joseph eagerly smoothed out his diagram...Heart trouble, she explained to his stare... "Nothing too serious, I think, but please keep an eye on him?...I'm taking him over to the hospital as soon as things settle down..." Right...Wesley nodded...

Well...Sike was...And now Anne seems to be...Madly in love...With human souls, no less...And they have worked together a long time at Wolfram-Hart...he thought..

But...Him?...he eyed Joseph as he moved to rally or at least, wake, his forces...

"Miss Kennedy?..." he gently shook her...And barely dodged a sudden swipe that would have sent him into the far wall as she jerked awake...

"Wha's...We home yet?..." she looked around, blinking...Oh...Still..Dis place... Hmph... Hmphhf...she burst into tears...

Homesick...Wes explained to the staring Lilah and Joseph as he patted her..

"Just take it easy, we'll have everything spiffy in a jiffy..." a mop-bearing Andrew noted to a sheepish Angel, emerging from the mens room...

Hmmn...Wes frowned at his troops over the Kennedy now sobbing on his shoulder...People, our worst enemies are here, watching, lets try to smarten up and show a little attitude...

It just doesn't bode well that Andrew is the most competent-looking of my forces...he sighed within...

"I think this may work out well for us...One way or the other..." Joseph hissed to his partner as she returned to his side...Where she always is, he thought fondly...

"Just make sure you let them do the hard stuff, Joseph...And getting rid of Anne will be enough work for today...We can turn on them later, after you've had a few days' rest... " Lilah noted quietly...Offering an arm for support...

Lilies, yeah, that's the ticket...

Inside the Doublemeat Palace HQ of the newly reorganized Wolfram-Hart, Inc...Would be Prime Minister Fred was suggesting his new Queen make contact with those who might be able to assist her in her quest for her souled one...The remaining Senior Partners in Hell...

Hmmpf...She looked round the place...Dey's don't seem ta be doin' sa gud judgin' from dis place...

Well...Their power on Earth is limited...he noted...Only Joseph has Earthly form right now...But they can advise and they might be able to locate...

"Willy?...Yeah, yeah!...Callum, getum up here!...Tellum Annie wants Willum now!...Or Else!..." she excitedly waved to him from her plastic throne chair...

Ummn...Best not to threaten the Partners...Fred hesitated...They may be limited in Earthly power but they can usually cough up enough to blast this place to shreds...

"Lemme handle dat, lil nobody..." she sneered at him... "Jes get em up here!...Now!..."

"I'll put in the call...One moment..." he went to fetch implements..

Fred...One of the other former senior staff hissed as he passed...You've never summoned the Partners...

Just gotta follow the instructions...Fred muttered back under his breath...

If that idiot Holland Manners could manage it, I certainly should have no prob...he thought...

Lieutenant Harmony watched the goings-on impatiently from her duty station in her new second-in-command's plastic chair...Presented to her primarily to keep her from continuing to wander over to Drusilla and the other prisoners...Don' look like anybodys gettin' Xanda fer me...

"Annie..." she turned to Her Anneness...Who gave a regal gaze...Hic...Yeah?...Wha?...

"Nobodys gettin' Xanda..." "Eh, we'll get' im..." "When?..." "When Is gud and reddy...Sheddup!..."

Hmmpf...Harmony sat back, glaring...

Hmmn...Anne regarded her throne room, the main dining area of Doublemeat #10002...Not exactly what she would have hoped for but with a few touches looted from the finest stores and museums downtown, it'd do...And big enough for a wedding reception with a few minor renovations...

And it did have the one essential to ensure the upcoming ceremony once dear Will came achargin' in...as he eventually would, she thought fondly...

Hostages...She beamed at her well-secured friends and family...A slight thing nagging at her though...Hmmn...

She rose and went over to Giles...An attempt at a nonchalant look...Eyeing him... "Ya doin' ok, Giles?...Theys treating ya ri'?...Cause they betta be treatin' ma Watcher ri'..." a glare at several nervous staffers, mostly human... "Anne..." the Chairman sighed... "When will you stop this nonsense...William is not going to..."

"Hey!...I don' gotta listen to you no more!...I's a free vamp lady...Da Quean of the Undoed...Unded...Got my min...guys and all..." she waved a hand at the pitiful remnants of Wolfram-Hart, Inc... "Gotta big plan and everythin'...Gonna rule da wor'd...Yeah..." Ummn...she paused...

"Giles?...Was William feelin' bad?...I didn' mean ta mak fun of him, jes Angel when I locked em up..."

"I didn't see him, Anne...Remember, I came in from..." he began... "He's ok...!" Willow called... "But he's mad at ya, Annie...And he's gonna be madder when he finds ya got us tied up...Betta let us go...Now!..."

Hmmn...Not a bad try, Willow...Giles thought...Perhaps that stuff is beginning to wear off...

Mad?...Annie stared, a worried look...Uh-oh...

"Eh, ya jes tryin' to mess wid ma hed..." she eyed her friend shrewdly... "Will ain't mad, he's sor' fer killin' me...But dats ok cause it wok'd out fine and danny..." she grinned...

Especially when I show my sweetie his first wedding present...Wolfram-Hart, lock, stock, barrel... and complete with Senior Partners soon as I can get em to show...she thought contentedly...Not even Angel ever managed that...

"Gotta get up purty early in the evenin' to fool wid ole Annie..." Hah...a sneering look...Oops, she tripped over Willow's chair leg...OWW!...Several of her new minions racing over to help her up...I'ma ok...hic...

"Hey you, whas yer name?..." she yelled over to Fred, dragging in a large pot and various implements... "You betta get dis stuff outta me...fast...Cause I'm gettin' not ta like this..."

So...She returned to her social duties... "Willum wasn't feelin' bad, ri' Giles...?"

Outside Doublemeat Palace, franchise #10002...Evening...

"All right..." Dawn eyed the building carefully from the alley where she and William had awaited the just-returned Xander, who'd made a quick scouting foray to a side window...

Inside...Anne and at least Giles, Willow...that Brit Slayer, Allyson...(cute Brit Slayer Allyson, he refrained from noting)...That other Slayer, Brenda...Who seemed kinda out of it...A very few demons...Plus a fair number of guys he didn't know but who seemed to be taking Anne's lead...

Oh, and Drusilla and Harmony...But Giles seemed to have been right...Dru apparently was indeed still on our side, being well-secured in ropes and chains with our guys...he noted...

"Les go!..." Will staggered a few steps... "Waits here, Dawny..." he turned back to her...Will!...she called...Xander catching him as he tripped on a board in the dimly-lit alley...

"We can't go charging in the front door, William..." Dawn frowned at him as she came up... "The odds are too high, especially in your current state...And they're holding our friends and family...God knows, those W-Hers would probably not hesitate to take Anne out as well and then where would we be?..."

"Well, the W-H guys dun brought Darla back, we jes do dat...Den she'd be human again...Cause I think ma Buf would wanna be human..."

Hmmn...A possible fall-back plan B at that...Dawn thought...

"Well, we could try that if we have to, Will...But, we can't be sure of the procedure...I think we'd best try taking Anne Undead...I think maybe a diversion to lure her out if possible..."

Well, Africa's nice...Will nodded... "Buf should travel mor'..." he noted to Xander... "Get outta the 'burbs and see some new places..."

Yeah...Xander kindly nodded... "An wanted to travel too, go to Europe on our honeymoon..."

Sor' Xan...Will sighed at his companion's sad face... "Says, mebbe you can use the spell fa her...?"

Doubt she'd come back the way I treated her...Xander sighed...

Guys?...Dawn eyed them... "Diversionary assault and vampiral capture to plan here?..." "Right...Ri'..." the boys nodded...

"But An' loves ya..." Will continued... "She'd cum, I's sure of it...Ask Willa to give her a call later..."

"Thanks..." Xander nodded... "Maybe I'll do that..."

Sorry, Dawnie...they chorused to her frowning face...Which softened a bit on seeing Xander's sad one...

"Will's right, Xander..." she patted him kindly... "You should have Willow reach her later on...And maybe, if she wants back here, we can do something for her..."

"Yeah..." Buffy's drunken voice just in front of them startled them... "We oughta do dat later..."

"Hey guys...Hiya sis!...Oh, Willum hon'...Ya ok?..." Anne smiled at them from where she stood in the alley...A small force of human and a few demonic minions just behind, trying to look menacing...Light from the back entrance to the Palace streaming through the open door through which the group had just emerged...

Hmmn...Dawn sighed...Well, so much for plans A and B...

Limbo...Evening...

Anne's been up and about for a day...And still hasn't killed anyone?...Angelus, keeping his careful distance from the others, fumed as Cicely relayed her first vague impressions of Anne's doings on Earth to Tara-Dru and Nast...Tara-Dru helping to strengthen the developing link...

"She's restrained by that brew, thank God...And by William..." she noted proudly to her companions... "Whatever else she is, she is cast in our mold lovewise...As Spike was in Will's..."

"We can't count on that too far Buffy..." Tara-Dru noted gently as Buffy resumed her modern form... "She wants the soul over Spike, maybe...But she's evil and that will out eventually, regardless..."

I know, Buffy sighed... "Believe me, I know her every thought..."

She's trying to use the guys as hostages...Bargain with William for letting her stay with him...

"And she means to turn Willow...Once she can be sure of controlling her...Probably after regaining her full strength..."

Oh?...Tara-Dru eyed her... "I didn't pick that up...in the telepathic stream..."

Uh, no...Buffy looked sheepish... "It's just what I would do if I'd turned evil and wanted to stay that way...Willow's the first human I'd either make an ally of or kill..."

Like the way I knew she'd go huntin' up Dru first thing...Not that I think about things like that a lot...Just sometimes...A Slayer has to put herself in the opponents' shoes and try to think like em...she noted solemnly... "Like say the Master, for instance...Now I could never understand why he didn't turn me when he had..."

Uh-oh...She paused...Tara-Dru eyed Nast...Just outta curiosity?...Why didn't he?... "I think he guessed a turned Slayer like Anne would be too much for him..." Nast shrugged...

"Guys..." Buffy looked at them... "I think she just caught Dawn...And judging by the joy, I'm sure she's found William..."

Now that's more like it...Angelus thought happily...Lets hope to hear there's been some good eatin' shortly...

He turned to Harmony, holding position out of sight from the others behind him... "See...All she's concerned about are her William and her sister...You don't rate a moment of her time..."

So?...Harm eyed his misty, shifting face coolly...

"So...Stand-by, and be ready when you feel the pull signaling your time has come...Don't fight it and you'll be back on Earth..."

Then do the 'oh my God, I'm a souled vampire, oh the agonizing remorse thing'...Look suitably pitiful and sorrowing...

"Then ram the first piece of wood you see into Anne..." he smiled...

"I thought you wanted Anne on your team..." Harm hissed back... "Not the way she is, especially the way she's been going with this crazed romancing over William, no...What we wanted was human Buffy with a vengeance-seeking Cicely in charge...Which doesn't seem likely..." he sighed...Thought Cicely had more spirit...

"But if they have to resurrect Buffy's body yet again, via a spell in the Wolfram-Hart archives...And Anne is ready to deal after such an exit...We might still get something of what we want..."

See, there's a leetle drawback to that particular resurrection spell...he grinned at her puzzled face...

"Our Senior Partners control it and can see which gets to the human...Or superhuman body first...Demon essence or soul..."

More coming asap...


	3. Chapter 3

**"I Love Ya...Truly..."**

PG-13

Summary: With the aid of some demon brew, a little party at Angel's new offices to celebrate William's resurrection in LA gives Buffy her chance to say it and prove it...The hard way...

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Archived at the Cicelyverse page of the Buffy Rebecca verse, .

Or direct to story at .

Part XXXVI...

LA...Outside the Doublemeat Palace HQ of Wolfram-Hart, Inc...(Anne Summers, acting CEO)...Evening...

Anne, in the midst of her new minions, beamed at her newly arrived guests...Dawn, William, Xander... "Grat o'ya ta cum, guys...Will, I wuz gonna go afta ya but dis is so neat..."

Ummn... "Ya know Dawnie and Xanda are ded if ya don' surrenda, ri?..."

"Xanda!..." an emerging Lieutenant of Anne's Army of Evil, Harmony, called happily from the Palace back door... "Ooo...Xanda, I been waitin' for ya!...I gots a guy for ya ta eat ri' away..."

Ummn...Thanks?...Xander eyed her... "Tak'em, guys..." Anne waved to her staff... "But if deys gets hurt, you get hurt..." she glared as the group advanced on the three...

"Go, Dawnie, Xan!..." Will stepped forward, attempting to take defensive stance as the W-H minions displayed admirable caution in their advance... "She won' kil me..."

"Hey...!" the new Queen of the Damned frowned, a bit hurt really... "I said we wusn't gonna hurt nobody...Doncha b'lieve me, Will?...Aw..." she pouted...

"Geesh, you clowns..." she frowned at her foot-dragging followers...But then, mostly human, devoted to the self-preservation philosophy of W-H, Inc, and suffering from a tradition of defeat...

"Deys only threea dem...Go and get'em!...Now!..."

"Cumere, Xanda!..." Harmony called... "I wanna mak ya my forever guy!..."

"Cover your eyes, fellas!..." Dawn cried...

OW!...Anne, Harmony, and the wavering minions howled, rubbing their eyes as Dawn threw out a blinding pulse of energy...A little something grabbed from the vault, she explained as Will staggered backward...And tried to tense again for the rush... "You guys get movin'..." he turned to them...Trying to squint his eyes to see anything

"No, Will..." Dawn pulled at him... "You're the one to go...She won't do anything to us while you're out and about...Get back to Angel and the others!...Go!..."

"She's right, Will!...Go!..." Xander picked up a board and pulled a cross from his pocket...

Harmony likes me?...he thought...Well, dead Harm likes me...Preferably dead...

"But Dawnie..." "Anne would catch us even as she is...Go!..." Dawn shoved him back... "Yeah, but I cana see!..." he noted...

"Just run!...Use your..." Dawn shrugged in frustration as William whanged into the alley wall... "I'm ok...O...K..." "Stupor senses..." she groused... "Just go straight till your vision clears...Run, Will!..." He headed off...Tripping over several garbage cans, banging off a fire escape...But generally headed for the main street beyond...

"Get 'em, you stups!...Or yous all ded!..." Anne howled, stumbling in her temporary blindness... "Dawnie, I's real mad at ya...You betta start minding me!..."

"Xanda!...Whers ya at?...Don' go!..." Harm called...Feeling in the air for the wall or...Oh, sor'...she apologized to a large demon... Not at all, ma'am...he politely replying...

"Come on, Xander..." Dawn pulled him back toward the main street now... "We might be able to..." Whoops...she pulled up short as Anne hopped over them to block their path...Demon-faced, snarling... "Ya betta quit it, Dawny...You too, Xanda...I can smell ya ifen I can't see ya..." she growled, voice drunken and wobbily...Yet quite sufficiently menacing... "Xanda?...You dere?..." Harm groped her way over...

"If you kill us, William will..." Yeah, yeah...Anne waved a hand...And resumed human form... "I didn't say I wus gonna kil ya...Yet..."

"Annnne...Ya said I could have Xanda!..." Harm growled as she came up... "Xanda?...You ok?...Ummn...Sor' 'bout Anya...I brung ya a card for her..." she pulled out a somewhat battered card, waving it...

"Anne..." Dawn eyed her...She blinking her eyes clear...Ohhh...Dat stuff hurt, Dawnie...she groused... "Wha?...Oh, ri'...No, Harm...Yous gets Xanda later...I needs him live for now..." she dismissed her passionate lieutenant with an airy wave...

Grrr...Ahhhh!...Harmony's aching heart had however been waiting about as long as she was prepared to...And though her vision was still blurred, her other senses were about as good as the demon brew could leave them...She went for her Queen, while attempting to eye her intended...

Lookee wha' I's do for ya, Xanda...

OWWW!...Anne slammed her back... "Demmit, Harm...Sidown!...Yous gets him later!...When I..." Another charge knocked her down...Harm looking up in triumph at a now dimly-visible Xanda...Waving...See, I's cuming for ya, babe!...

I suppose...Xander noted to Dawn as they stared at the two vamps on the ground... "I should be..."

"Running!..." Dawn shoved him...

"Geesh, ya moron!..." Anne shoved Harm off... "Deys gettin' away!...Dawnie, cum back!..." she called, a tad wistfully...Harm looking over her...Xanda?...

"Cum on!...And yous vamps...Leave 'em live or I'll dust the twoa you!...And yous uda jerks get movin' too!..." Anne glared at the moaning, in some cases pleading for mercy from the victors, W-H staff as they continued to stumble about in blind panic...

Geesh, wha' day...she groused, throwing Harm off to the side and hurrying off...

OWW!...As she banged into the same fire escape Will had hit...

"Dawnie!...Cum back!...I ain' gonna kilya yet...!...Ummn...See i's all a trick...I's still ya Buffy!...Jes foolin' da bad guys!..." she tried...

Aw...Gee...

Wesley's rather packed car...Downtown LA...Late evening...

"I suggest..." Joseph noted from the back seat where he was squeezed against Andrew and Angel on opposing sides...Lilah rather contentedly in his lap... "That we open our assault with a tactical diversion, then have our main force strike the rear to gain access to the prisoners...Once reinforced, we can determine the situation and continue against our objective or pull back and regroup as required..."

"In other words..." Wes noted from the driver's seat... "You and Lilah will make some noise out front, run like hell when they come out, and the rest will kick in the back door and try to get our people out...?"

"Exactly...Glad to see our evaluations concur..." Joseph beamed...I like your summation better...Lilah whispered to him...

"Slaya's reddy..." Kennedy raised a wavering fist from where she sat on Andrew's lap... "Yous still gay, Any?..." she hissed to him... "Cause I thinks Dawny likes ya..."

Gay?...Andrew blinked...Why, whatever...

I mean, true...I was rather close to our former fiendish leader...And at times in the past have perhaps displayed what some rather narrow types might see as typical stereotyped...

But I've become way more manly thanks to Mr. Giles' excellent training...

"Ya wanna see if ya bi?...Ya can practice a lil' wid me while we're goin'..." Kennedy kindly noted... "Cause I thinks ya nice and Dawnie should hava nice guy who knows stuf about da demmens and all..."

Ummn...

"Slayer, focus on your mission, please!..." Wes came to the rescue... "Yas, sir..." she nodded... "Slaya's reddy!..."

Doublemeat Palace #10002...Late evening...

A frowning Queen Anne led the newly captured Dawn into the main dining area...Gotta do everythin' meself...As usual...she glared at her sheepish minions...A sulky Harmony following...

No Xanda...Bet she let him get away...Bitchy Annie da Queen...Rotten, lousy...

"Yous grounded for tanight, Dawn..." Anne groused, pointing her to a chair near Giles... "Jes be glad I needs ya for bait or I might not even vamp ya...Just throw ya to dem..." she indicated a few of the handful of surviving W-H demon and vamp staffers...

"Dats for her...Any of yous get any ideas and I rip ya heds off...!" she glared...The non-human minions sighing...Yes, ma'am...

"Dawn?..." Giles eyed her... "Giles, guys...Sorry about this..." Dawn sighed as two of the human staffers began tying her up... "Don' ya hurt ma sis..." Anne growling as they carefully did so...

"Afraid my intentions exceeded my abilities...I really should've brought some more effective weapons from the Occult Storage...But Xander and William did make their escape and the others should...Hopefully...benefit from their information..."

Giles eyed her narrowly... "Yes..." Dawn sighed... "I've been exposed to that brew as well...With a rather unique effect...As with our Drusilla..." she nodded pleasantly to Dru...Who smiled kindly back...

"By the way, I'm Dawn Summers, Buffy's sister, in case the spell about me never worked on you..." "Oh, I quite remember you, Ms. Summers..." Dru nodded pleasantly...

Very sorry about the time I nearly ate you... "Just your nature, Ms...?"

"Waverly..." Dru beamed at the first person to ask in over a century... "Drusilla Alice Waverly..."

"Very nice to make your acquaintance...And welcome to the Light side..." Dawn smiled...

Whas happened to Dawnie?...Willow hissed to Giles... "She's talkin' funny..."

Yeah...Anne had come over... "Dawnie, yous talkin' funny...Willa says so too...You ok?..."

Did any of ma guys hurt ya out dere?...A hard glare round at the staff... "No, it's that demon brew..." Dawn explained...

Brew?...Anne glared... "Dawnie, you been drinkin'?..." Her eyes narrowing as she looked at the others... "Willa!...Who let Dawny drink?..."

"I dunno..." Willow stared at Dawn...

"It was an accident, Anne...I spilled some on me..."

Ouch!...Hey, watch the... "Arrgghh!..." she and the others watched in shock as Anne snapped the neck of the staffer who'd accidently banged her ankle with the chains he'd been securing...

Tole him...Anne glared...Waving in another...Far more cautious...fellow...To finish...

"Hey..." she beamed... "Ma furst kill...Oh, Buf's gonna suffa now!..." Oooops...she paused...Wasn' posed to kil humans...Yet...Imperils the master plan, damn it...

Uh...Dawnie?...she eyed her sis...

"You'll tell Willum I did it to saf ya from the bad guy, ri...?"

Please?...

"Really wuz ta help ya, ya know?" an earnest, if bleary look...

"Ok...Well..." Ummn... "...Cuse me if Im bein' rud' cause Im a lil' off wa' should be ma evil edge, Gil's..." she apologized to Giles...Who frowned...As Dawn continued to stare at the dead man on the floor...(Hey, gets da guy outta here, ma sis shouldn' be seein' it...she hissed to Fred...Who'd come over to report he was ready to make contact with Hell...) "I wanna get dis strait...And cause Im off ma edge...It ma tak a lil' bit for me to get dis strait...But no har' feelin's...O...K...?" she gave a smile...

"Let me explain it to you, Anne..." Fred tried...A hard glare his reward... "Shetup, you..." she frowned...

"Sos..." Anne paused... "It's like da TV show I member Xanda was watchin' last wek..."("Xanda?...Where's he at?..." Harmony lifted her sad and wobbily head...Willow looking round as well... "Xanda?..." Both calling...) "Where the stuf made the dum..." she looks at a frowning Dawn... "guy smarta...And the smartest guy..." she beams...

"A lil' less on the edge o' da smarts..." she eyed the trapped group...

Yeah...I sa da one...Willow nodded vaguely...It wa cool...Smartaistheduma...Duma is the smarta...

"I hardly think that scenario applies here..." Giles shook his head...Eyeing Anne...

"I agree, Rupert...It's obvious my condition is due to manifestation of variance in the field matrix I was formed from affecting the solutionemployed..." Dawn nodded...

"For myself, I rather prefer to think the Blessed Virgin is saving me from the dark horror enshrouding my poor essence..." Drusilla noted contentedly...Dawn eyeing her...

"As for Sister Drusilla...I think we must go with a variation of Anne's scenario...craziest person gets saner consuming the solution..." Dawn noted...

Yes, I concur...Giles nodded...

**"I Love Ya...Truly..."**

PG-13

Summary: With the aid of some demon brew, a little party at Angel's new offices to celebrate William's resurrection in LA gives Buffy her chance to say it and prove it...The hard way...

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Archived at the Cicelyverse page of the Buffy Rebecca verse, .

Or direct to story at .

Part XXXVII...

Wes' car...Pulled over two blocks from the Doublemeat Palace nerve center of Summers-Wolfram-Hart, Inc...Evening...

"Alright..." Wes looked round the car at his...God help us...Team...

"Lets..." His cell phone buzzed... "Yes...Xander?...Where the devil...?"

Uh-oh...Joseph blinked, looking for a moment a bit like Angel and Kennedy under the brew... "Joseph?...You alright?..." Lilah nervously scanned his face from his lap, reaching to feeling his pulse...Wes shaking his head slightly at the sight...Unbelievable...Never would I have thought I'd find an image of Lilah in her boss's lap to be both bizarrely touching and utterly innocent... "Ummn...Yes, fine...But... Mr. Wyndham-Price?..."

"A moment..." Wes put up a hand... "Xander, we're two blocks from the Palace on Evans?...Can you?...Oh..." he looked to see Xander tapping on the glass... Hey, Xan!...Angel waved to him, lowering the window...

"Mr. Wyndham-Price?..." Joseph tried again... "I'm afraid we have a new problem...Anne seems to be attempting to call in support from my comrades in Hell..."

I'm still plugged into the network...he explained...

Hmmn...Wes thought...Would have thought he'd keep that one secret and exploit it to his benefit later...Anne's really thrown him...

Or maybe...He smiled faintly and wryly at the thought...Love has...

"Can they do much for her from Hell?..."

"How's Dawn?..." Andrew stepped out of the car... "Anne's got her, I think..." Xander noted... "We got separated when they nearly caught us outside...Not much choice but to run...But Will's gotten away too..."

"You left her with Anne?..." Xander blinked at Andy's harsh tone and stern look...Whoa...

"I tried to stay with her...But she led them off deliberately..."

"Their powers are limited right now..." Joseph shrugged at Wes from his seat, Lilah still feeling pulse and watching him carefully... "Though if they wished to and were willing to drain their strength, they could blast us...Doubt they'd do it for Anne right now though...She's too independent, ungrateful..." he groused a bit, then sighed...

"But they could help her with the brew cure and advise her about our activities to some extent..."

"Den, ma Slaya sis and vamp soul bro needs us!...Les go!..." Angel raised a fist, threw his door open, and started off... Whoops...He came to a sudden halt..Forgada seat bel...Ooops, think I brok it...He cautiously pushing the broken belt back down into the side of the side...And rising successfully this time, headed out...Determined, if bleary look in his eye...

"Angel! Wait!..." Wes called, hopping out... "Angel, it's not that way..." Xander hurrying to him... "Slaya's reddy!..." Kennedy stumbled out from her side... "I's cuming Willa!..."

"Lilah, please help Ms. Kennedy!..." Wes turned to her as he reached Angel, Xander already taking him in hand...Hold on, big guy... "Hang on just a sec, boss...We're heading right out..."

Well, the boss may be a bit out of it but good to know that our ex-Sunnydalers are seeing that the heroic heart's still in the right place...Wes thought proudly...

Just don't fall on your face in front of them...And our temporary allies...

I coulda spent an evening gettin' to know Crudgins...Lilah thought, sighing as she got out and headed over to Kennedy...

Instead, here I am, about to die in most embarrassing fashion with the incompetents of Light...

This damned well better entitle me to one of the tonier corners of Heaven...

Well...She eyed Joseph as he came to her side... "Whos you?..." Kennedy asking from the other... "It's alright, Kennedy!...They're working with us!..." Wes called... Maybe I could pass on Heaven...Lilah smiled wanly at the little Senior Partner...Her lil' Senior Partner...

Couldn't leave the little guy alone to face the other Partners...Sure to be pissed at the latest string of disasters...Unless this little disaster gives us both a shot at Purgatory?...

"Alright..." Wes sighed... "Lets try and get near the Palace without too much noise, shall we?...Everyone stay together..."

A crash..."I'm...Ok...Jes' fine..." Angel noted as Xander pulled him away from the trash can he'd stumbled into...

"Slayer?...If I may..." Joseph went round to Kennedy's other side...Offering a gallant arm...Thanka...Kennedy nodded...

"Look, Andy...I did my best..." Xander sheepishly explained to Andrew's frown as they set out...

O...K...William thought as he crept as carefully as brew imbalance would allow over the roof of Doublemeat Palace #10002...

Made it in one piece...Managed to avoid tripping over every garbage can in sight...Safely up where I can spy the goings-on without...He looked down through the plexiglass roof panel to where poor Melvin still dangled helplessly from his rope harness...Hmmn...

My Annie trying a human pinata party?...Dru and I did that a few Xmases...Whack away to reveal the chewy goodness within...

Further below he caught a glimpse of his possessed beloved's body...Oh, ma poor lil...he sadly whispered aloud...Say, nice suit...Apparently engaged in conversation with a chain-and-rope bound Giles...Willow next to him, also secured...Dru...Hmmn?...In chains as well, just next to her...

Guess what the Tara soul said was true...

Two young women likewise chained...Hmmn... Slayers called in by good ole Giles?...Kinda nice to know the new girls can't match my Buf...She'd've been out of that so fast...

Anyway, potential reinforcements...However Anne seems to've collected a fair bunch of minions, several fairly well-armed...Best to take things...Ooof...He slipped and slammed on the plexiglass...Hastily pulling back...

"Was' dat...?" Anne and a number of W-Hers looked up...Nothing...But the Queen's tactical skills remained unimpaired... "Gos and check it out!..." she waved at several...A demon, the female vamp staffer and would-be Xander beau Terry, and a human... "Now, stoopids!..." They hurried for the rear door...

"Gotta be one or bothada guys, ya think?..." she looked at Giles...Then up again...Nope, nothing... "Hey? Willy?..." she called happily, looking straight up... "Or Ange'?...Or whoeva?...Hey?...Cum on down!..."

"Aw, cum on down...Willum?...Hon'?...Ya dere?..." she repeated... "Annie wansa a lil makin' out!...Cum on, hon'y, doncha wanna mak out?..." she fussed...Aw...

Ummn...She blinked, looking back down at the staring Dawn nervously...Not wishing to give little sis the wrong...Well, ok the right... idea...But still not wishing to make the wrong impression...

Demon or no, she's still a responsible big sis/mystic clone mom...

"Wes married...Kinda, Dawny...I's ok..."

"So William told me..." Dawn replied...With admirable calm, considering the subject, Giles noted..."But wouldn't that only count for Cicely?..."

"I's Cicely's demmen too...I's ok...I'm tellin' ya..." Anne fumed a bit...Giles eyeing Dawn...Caution...

"Damn time ya minded me, Dawny..." she groused... "And I can mak' ya, ya know..." a harsh, if drunkenly slurred edge...

"Well, I guess it would be ok...If William says so..." Dawn tried... "Oh, ya...He's gonna be fine wid it..." a happy beam, followed by slight cloudiness... "Well, mebbe not wid me..." a sigh... "He lik's da soul betta...But I got yous guys so he'll hafta...Yeah..." spirits lifted, the Queen awaited reports...

Giles blinking slightly at Dawn...Ok?...If William...? She sighed, turning to his staring face... "I'm sure the story's true, Rupert, it explains a great deal of Buffy's behavior with Spike these last years...We can check your archives later but I think one must accept realities...And Fate..."

Mmmn...Though I have heard of a Cicely Addams among the Slayers, I think I'll want a couple of weeks in the Council archives before I'm quite ready to swallow this one merely on Anne's and William's drunken words...Giles thought...

'Sides it is kinda romantic...William fighting his way out of Spike to salvation for love of sis while she held her stake, sensing vaguely who he was...Sort've like my Andrew beating back his dark side and the First's influence while I gradually came to sense the beautiful soul within that awesome...she sensed Giles watching her...Ummn...

"Andy?...Beatin' his wha?..."Anne stared at her, then Giles..."Giles?...Andy been messin' wid ma sis?..." A narrow glare...

"Uh, no...Certainly not, just a minor romantic fantasy, Anne...Sorry...Had no idea I was speaking aloud..." Dawn sheepishly looked round...Several of the Wolfram-Hart staffers looking at each other...Here and there, a tear hastily wiped...Gee...

But, after all...Tucker's brother...One noted to her colleague...

"You know...Just got carried away a bit...Like with RJ..." Dawn eyed her sis' demon's angry face... "R...J...Yeah...I 'member dat clown...He's gonna be sor' ya bet!..." A dark look... "Wai'a mo?...Car'ied wheres?...Willa!...You been lettin' Andy mess round wid Dawn?..."

I been ded one day...she fumed... "And ya let dis happen?..."

No ways...Willow waved a swaying hand... "She wuzn't lone wid him taday...Gil's you tella..."

Hmmn...Demon brew or no, Anne's actually no slouch when it comes to watching over Dawn's safety...In certain matters, at least...Giles noted... "It's fine, Anne...Andrew's been a perfect gentleman..."

"Perfict?..." Perfect...Dawn nodded...

O...K... "If Gil's says so...But I's gonna be watchin him, even if I kil'im...Giles, yous da Watcher...Ya gotta Watch him too, ya know..."

Indeed I will, he thought...

"We're ready, ma'am..." Fred called her over to where he'd set up the implements for summoning the Hell-confined Partners... "H'ok, get movin'..." she nodded to him...

'Bout time we get dis showona road...And I hadda lil' talk with Andrew Wells...a frown...

"What are they doing there, sir?..." Allyson called over to Giles, indicating Fred and his helpers...Willow, then Dru looking...Hmmn, clearly some foul and unholy rite...Dru noted...Guy looks stoopid...Willow hissed, eyeing Fred, busily engaged in a chant... "I believe the fellow in headdress..." Giles nodded to indicate Fred in rather elaborate feathered headpiece... "... said they'd try to summon the assistance of the Senior Partners...This could be a serious problem if they're willing to help Anne..."

Willow?...he hissed... "I still got nuthin', Giles...That thing's holdin' me down..." Willow eyed the orb in front of her...

Ah...Well then, determined measures are called for if one is to prevent Evil's triumph, Dru thought, tensing...It might not be possible to break through the holy circle round her chair, but no reason one can't offer a little distraction...A quick prayer to the Blessed Virgin for strength and fortitude and...She snapped her handcuffed wrist free with a savage pull...Snarling in sudden demon face at the nearest guard who blanched and fell back... "Hey, fellas!..." he screamed..."

Limbo...Evening...

Where Cicely was now feeling a little of the shock Anne had expected over her first human kill...

No matter that it had been some worthless minion of Wolfram-Hart...A human being...

"I thought..." she stared at Nast and then Tara-Dru's floating Tara head... "I was sure Anne wouldn't...For Will's sake..." she confessed...

"She's a monster, Cicely..." Tara shook her misty, shifting head... "Whatever she feels for William, it's her nature to kill..." "And you must be prepared for more, Slayer..." Nast added... "Lots more, maybe..." Tara-Dru sighed... "Of the same...Including..."

My friends...family...Buffy nodded slowly...

"It was foolish of me...I thought I could do this, experience this, without real consequences...God knows I should know what my dark side's capable of...But..."

William will stop her...she firmly insisted, getting hold of herself, as she noted Angelus carefully watching in the distance...

Tara's and Nast's faces non-commitally polite...He will...she tried again...

Well...At least, she'll watch it with the guys while he's around, to keep him happy...Buffy's floated head attempted a shrug...

Guys...You could show a little more faith in my guy...she groused inwardly...Just to be polite...Heck if it were Willow, Tara...

"He's up to something..." she indicated Angelus... "He's always up to something when here..." Tara's head shook slightly... "Kinda functions as a miserable little errand boy for the Dark Powers...Hoping for you to lose heart most likely..."

"We could drive him off if you wish, but we think it's best to have him where we can watch him..." Nast noted...

"Sure, you're right...And I'm alright...I...We...Can deal...I came because I had to, I'm sure of that...If I'm to move on in my work, I had to see and go through this...Reach a new understanding of those I fight...Reconcile my past as Cicely and my fears regarding my future as Buffy with Will..."

A future that's gonna happen...At last...she firmly insisted... "After all, I gotta a husband and a daughter waitin'..." she smiled...

But it's still...Unnerving...To know some part of me is capable of this...she sighed... "Though I suppose...From their pov..." she eyed Angelus in the distance as he in turn observed them carefully... "I've always killed rather causally..."

"Well...I wouldn't say that..." a familiar voice perked up... "Just maybe once in a while on really busy days..."

"Anya?..."

"Hey..." Anya's smiling face formed... "How's things, Slayer?..."

Outside Doublemeat Palace #10002...

"You smell somethin'...?" the demon among the three sent out by Anne to check for intruders turned to the vamp among them, W-H staffer and Xander fan, Terry...She paused, concentrating...Nothing strong...Wait...

"I smell blood...Human, I think...Yeah, up there..." she pointed...

Human?...Don't suppose maybe?...It would be so like his reputation as powerless, yet insanely heroic human...she thought...Picturing the courageous Mr. Harris in James Bond suit preparing to take on countless foes from his precarious perch above...Looking back towards the rear door...Great, no Lieutenant Harmony...she beamed...

Damn...Will sighed...Pulling back in the shadowy corner of the roof by the air vent he'd found...

Dawn and her newly brilliant ideas...Lit up with blood scent like a beacon to every vamp in a mile...

"Can you get up there?...Cause I sure can't without a ladder..." the human staffer noted to Terry and Maxwell, the demon...Maxwell noting his large and ungainly form shook his massive, bony-ridged head...

Such gallantry, guys...Terry glared... "Well, gimme a boost up anyway...I'll pull you up..."

Unless of course the amazing Mr. Harris were up there?...In which case he'd probably courageously overwhelm her too quickly for her to gather aid...No choice but to take him, if she could...Or surrender to his tender mercy, and allow him to save her poor lost soul...

Then, in either case, run like Hell both before Harmony heard...

Inside, Fred was proceeding with the ceremony...Mist emanating from his pot...

Hope this doesn't set off the sprinkler system...One of the staffers noted to a companion...Our insurance rates'll hit the roof if we summoned the fire department again...

A face rather like the Wizard of Oz appeared in the thickening mist... "We are the great and powerful Directors of the Board...Who summons us?..."

"Cheney, is that you again...Look, we've done all we could for your company?" another slightly different appearing to the back of the first...Both heads facing outward, back to each other...

3-D video...Anne noted, pleased...Moving Fred aside... "Me, I's Anne, da new Queana da Damned...Hiya..."

"Buffy Summers?..." the second face stared... "Transformed a few hours ago..." the first head noted...

Geesh...No one tells me anything...the second grumbled...

In Limbo, a rather guilty-looking Anya...Well, head and upper torso of Anya...Faced a fuming Buffy head...

"You knew?...Anya?...You knew about me?...Ummn, Cicely?..." she morphed to Cicely form...

"Betrayer!...Vengeance demon whore!..." Ummn...Back to a sheepish Buffy... Ummn..."Really sorry..." she noted, embarrassed... "Cicely's part is a bit uncomfortable regards the past and all..."

"I'm sorry, Buffy...I knew from Haly that William'd been involved with a Slayer in his life back then...But honestly, I never guessed it was you..."

Hey, Tara...she waved...An...Tara-Dru's head nodded, smiling...

"Are you trapped here, too?..." Buffy eyed her friend... "Actually...This is a jump up for me...I've been mostly in Purgatory..." Anya noted... "With the occasional visit here to check on some former victims, Xander and you guys, and catch up with a few friends like Tara..."

A lot to atone for in 1,000 years of vengeance-infliction...What with my soul involved and all...she explained, sighing... "Though everyone's been very nice, thanks to my work with you guys..."

Sorry...Buffy stared... "Anything I..?"

"Actually...A boatload of prayers and a signed petition to the Powers of Light testifying to my fitness for rebirth or passage to Heaven wouldn't hurt...But I'm basically ok, earning my points..." "You got it..."

"Thanks..." Anya eyed her friend's face carefully... "But I kinda wish you'd thought your own lil' trip here over more carefully...It's a dangerous thing to play with Death, kiddo...And God knows you've played with him a few times..."

Jerkoff is back, I see...she noted to Tara-Dru, indicating Angelus in the distance...

"I suppose he's up to the usual?..." "We think so, but focusing on Buffy and Cicely this time..." Tara-Dru nodded...

"Well, watch him, Buffy...He's almost powerless but he still has that silver tongue...And his bosses in Hell, particularly his latest, are determined to give you more grief still if they can...You or your Cicely half, whichever..."

"Who's he workin' for?...The First, huh?..." "The First..." Anya grinned at Tara-Dru... "Has gone a leetle wacko...In fact...She thinks she's you...Or did, last I heard..."

"Me?..." "Her defeat sent her over the edge...And she has a tight link with you...Your Slayer power came from her originally..."

"From what I hear, she's running around Hell every chance she gets, trying to stake every demon in sight and redeem every vamp..."

Or sleep with 'em...she kindly did not say...Buffy blinking at her...

"So who's...?" she looked over at Angelus, now trying to keep distance from the watching Harmony to avoid suspicion...

"You're gonna love this...Though Tara?...You might not wanna hear this..."

"Oh, God no..." Tara-Dru stared... "Not him...I'd heard he'd scored with them down there but..."

Those poor guys...she grinned...

"Well, what with the First's institutionalization...And the Partners not knowing Buffy so well...He's kinda filling a vacuum..."

"Who?..." Buffy looked at her friends... Mmmphf...Tara-Dru giggled...Anya chuckling now as well...

"Buffy-Cicely...Angelus...Former Dark Prince of Evil...Is now more or less working..." Mmmphf...Hah-hah-ha!...her friends began howling...Nast allowing a grin to spread as well...

Ah, sensing their impending doom are they?...Howling in panic at the thought of the Earth in the hands of Evil...Angelus thought contentedly...Ooops...He felt a summons...

Harm...ony...he called to her spirit telepathically...Hopefully in unbreakably encrypted code... Gotta visit with my...Partners...In Hell... Back in a mo...Keep a watch and stand ready, my girl...Our time of vengeance is at hand...

He vanished...

"Look..." Anya's head nodded in the direction of the spot Angelus'd been... "Guess the...ummn...Big Boss...Mmmphf...Wants a report on progress..."

"Well, nerds...They gotta know every detail...It's the anal thing..." Tara-Dru chuckled...Ummn...she paused... "I don't mean all nerds are like him...A lot are great...I love one...Ummn..."

Not that my Wil's a nerd so to speak...she tried...

"Who the hell are we...?..." Buffy fumed...Then stopped... "Wait?...Him?...You're kidding?...They made him their...?"

"Not leader, really...More...Chief geek and Buffy expert..." Buffy expert?...Buffy stared... "Well, he did get to know you a little ...And I'd guess Hell is getting a mite desperate for help these days..." Tara-Dru chuckled...

"Warren Mears?...Angelus'...Boss?..." Buffy choked...

"God...I'd never have thought I'd feel sorry for the Dark Side...Or Angelus..." Tara-Dru shook her head, grinning...

Meanwhile, in Hell...

"How come I'm not getting a clear picture...?" Warren's spirit fumed at his imp aide, the former Tucker Wells, as they fussed with a large crystal ball in the First's temporarily-vacated-owing-to-illness office... "It's Limbo, sir...We don't get a direct feed..." Angelus standing by, attempting to maintain the bearing and look of an equal...

Hmmpf...Mears fumed...Stupid, miserable, crappy excuse for equipment...And to think I took this job voluntarily when the Partners asked...

"Angelus!...What the hell was going on up...Or wherever...There?..." Warren turned to him...

Well?... "I'm waiting?...What do you have to report?..."

Lord, have I come down to this?...Angelus sighed inwardly...The last guy the Dark Powers put over me on my last Earth trip was bad enough...Now I gotta answer to this pudgy clown?...

Still...He's in charge of this one while the First's gone Buffy-batty...The Partners having little experience Summers-wise...Besides being no match even for my counterpart, dorks...

Arggh...Enough to make one seriously consider Redemption...

"I've been working on Buffy's trapped soul in Limbo...In particular the guilt and rage buried in Cicely..."

"Cicely?..." The Tucker imp waved a file into existence and handed it to him...Oh, right...Warren nodded... Always knew the bitch must have had at least nine lives...

"And?..." he frowned at the tall vamp essence...Just the kind of hunky pea-brain he'd've expected Summers to go for...It must have been her dead Brit half that had gone for lil' ole Spike...

"Not so good...I mean...Anne is not exactly wreaking havoc on Earth, and Buffy knows there's a good chance for her return..."

"Damn that dumb, lazy blonde vamp!...What the here is she thinking?...Does she think Summers' lil' gang is gonna take her on as a team member?..."

I coulda tole you Buffy's demon would be a sentimental idiot without me to guide her...Angelus frowned...What I coulda done for that one, if she'd had a few brains, he sighed regretfully...Well...

"I do have a possible back-up..." he noted... "A possible back-up...?" Warren repeated...

"A possible back-up?...Minus what missing token of respect?..." A glare from the new Number One...And a sign to various imps and demons who closed round...

Ummn...Angelus looked round... Closing his eyes and sighing again...

"A possible back-up...Sir..." "That's more like it, pal..." Warren nodded... "Details...?"

"A soul in Limbo with a grudge against Buffy...And a vamp host on Earth..."

"Not bad...But what's he or she gonna do...Hey, are they laughing at me?...I distinctly heard that Tara call me a nerd!..." Warren glared at imp Tucker, whacking the crystal ball as the muddied image sharpened then clouded again...The faint howling laughter of the girls persisting... "Damn Dark Ages technology!..." he whacked the ball again... "This is why you people never stood a chance against Humanity...!"

"Do you know what the science budget down here was when I first came?..." he turned to Angelus... "Zip...Nothing...Total reliance on mumbo-jumbo and Prophecies by brain-dead-even-before-Death guys...What a buncha idiots..."

No wonder that blonde bimbo's been walking all over Evil and ersatz Buffy's flipped her...

The First suddenly materialized...Waving stake... "Oh, Christ..." Warren sighed...

"Here's the deal...!" she shrieked at the various minions...Catching one with a rather deft throw...

Thought she wasn't corporeal...Angelus hissed to Warren... "On Earth, you moron!...Didn't you ever study Metaphysics...?"

"Quick...Before she gets that stake out of that guy...Tell her you're Angel, here to help...While I get her attendants..." Warren shoved him towards her...

Now wait a...Angelus looked round...Warren and a number of the attendants had vanished...Ummn...

Guys...?

"Hey, Buffy..." he cheerily called, hastily wiping the panic from his face... "Angel's here to help out..." She looked up, wild-eyed from where she was pulling stake from her victim's corpse...Doomed to regenerate in hours of course, but still agonizingly dead enough for all that... "Angel?...Nice to see you...We're got demons and vamps all over the place...Grab a stake and get started...But save the redeemable ones!..."

Certainly...he beamed...Looking round...Ah...He pulled a wooden arm from a desk chair...And gave a hard stare to one of the minions left behind...

Well, this might be some fun at that...he thought as he staked the terrified minion...

"No sign of redemptability in that one, Buf!..." he happily called...

**"I Love Ya...Truly..."**

PG-13

Summary: With the aid of some demon brew, a little party at Angel's new offices to celebrate William's resurrection in LA gives Buffy her chance to say it and prove it...The hard way...

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Archived at the Cicelyverse page of the Buffy Rebecca verse, .

Or direct to story at .

Part XXXVIII...

Doublemeat Palace franchise #10002...Night...

The beginning of Anne's negotiation with the newly summoned Senior Partners was abruptly interrupted by Dru's sudden break...However, though she'd unchained herself, she was still trapped by the holy circle placed round her chair...

"Guys!..." the hapless Melvin, still swinging from his harness about ten feet up, awaiting his fate as potential vamp/Lieutenant Harmony's significant other Xander's first meal, shouted and pointed as several of his colleagues looked up at him...

"Help!..." the panicking W-H staffer who'd been watching Dru, fell back in shock at her snarling...Blessed Virgin forgive my regression to the ways of violence...Attack...

The lady'd been so sweet til now...Politely asking about his family and interests and all when he'd hesitantly asked if she really was the famed Drusilla...

Slayer Allyson now saw her chance as her guard moved to assist her colleague and rose quickly, snapping her chains...Poor Brenda the other Vampire Slayer still blank, in Anne's thrall grip...

"Hurry, Allyson!...Destroy that orb and clear the circle by Dru!..." Giles called..."Yeah!..." Willow chimed in... "Brek dat!..." she tried to kick at the occult energy-draining orb in front of her chair...

Allyson slammed the orb away and moved for the scattered bits of sacred matter about Dru's chair...As a few human and the other remaining demon and vamp W-Hers at hand rallied to engage her...

"Hey!...Wha' da?..." Anne raced over in towering rage...A hasty "'Cuse..." to the Heads...Just as Allyson managed to clear a path for Dru...

And just as Lilah and Joseph began their tactical diversion at the front door...With two large rocks...

Unfortunately only occupying the attention of the three staffers nearest the door...All the rest now hurrying to support Anne in the rear section...The outside door of which Wes' team was now moving on...

The roof of Doublemeat Palace franchise #10002/new HQ of the battered Wolfram-Hart firm...

"All right!..." Terry the vamp staffer called into the rooftop darkness, squinting as she stood up after struggling up, her human and demon companions still below... "Who's here?...I smell you, human!..." Rather overpoweringly, too...Fella or lady must be gushing from somewhere...Oh!... "Mr. Harris, are you hurt?..." she called... Ummn... "I mean...Whoever you are, surrender!...I have orders to bring you in alive!...You..." Hmmn...She sniffed again... "And your vamp buddy...C'mon guys, lets make this easy!... Ms. Anne doesn't want you hurt..."

Mr. Harris?...Will thought...As he crouched, looking for any possible escape route...Not really being in the fittest mode for a charge just now...

Below...

The human and demon supporting Terry from their safe post aground found themselves, much against their inclinations, forced to deal with Wes' attack...Wes, Xander, Andrew, with a determined if staggering Angel and a confused and weaving but willing Kennedy in tow...

Sensibly concluding that since their orders had been to capture the whoever on the roof, not to die heroically defending the rear entrance, the two W-Hers followed standard Wolfram-Hart procedure and saved their necks by diving for the door, locking it behind them...

Only to have themselves tossed back at the locked door by a freed Drusilla, Allyson covering her back...Anne, her tactical skills as intact as always, having focused on securing the potential chief threat to her reign...

Willow...

In Hell, the First having been secured and tranquillized as best possible, Warren and Angelus, with several imp aides were enjoying a view of the developing battle from the First's office via giant crystal ball...At least reception from Earth wasn't too crappy, Warren noted contentedly...

"How's about something to drink and some pretzels, if we gotta 'em?..." he eyed his aide who passed the request on to one of Warren's Buffy form demons, a number of whom had been summoned from his flowery bower home... "This looks like it outta be quite a show..." new Hell C-in-C by default Warren noted to Angelus, now likewise seated rather contentedly in comfortable chair beside, another demonic Buffy tending him...

No pretzels, sir...the former Tucker Wells, now hell imp, reported... "Ma'am prefers healthier food when she eats...We got fruit and vegetables..." he offered... Jesus...Warren frowned... "She's the First, is she afraid she'd gain weight or something?..."

"I think it's mainly her link to the Slayer, Ms. Summers, sir...But actually, here in Hell...She could..."

"Christ, you mean the First herself can't even control her weight?...What the hell good then is being one of the Leaders of Evil?..."

"Well...We do have a fine gym...And the best nutrition and weight counseling staff...Plus access to liposuction and all the latest surgical techniques..."

Utilized for punishment for the general populace here, naturally, but available as a perk to all senior staff...

"I'll take some cantalope and mineral water..." Angelus asked his Buffy pleasantly...She bowed and went off...

"No beer either, I suppose..." Warren sighed... "Oh, sure...Buffy likes beer so Ma'am does..." the Tucker imp happily noted... "Though she tries not to indulge too much..."

"Great...The best you got..." Hmmn...A sudden thought... "Just make sure it's not that demonic stuff..." he put his feet up, waving a Buffy to place a pillow...

"Nice place you got here, Mr. Mears..." Angelus grinned, likewise summoning pillow... "And thanks for having me to view the fun..." he nodded at the ball...

"Eh..." Warren waved a hand... "We who've fought the Bad Fight battling Evil's greatest nemesis deserve a few perks, my friend..." He raised a newly delivered beer mug and clinked with Angelus'...

"We are gonna lose this one, too, I suppose..." Angelus sighed...

"I've little doubt...World-conquering, final victory-wise..." Warren nodded... "But hey, we're not personally the ones who'll be getting our asses kicked in-for once...And any day Buffy Summers has to watch her own Dark Side committing mayhem is no bad day in my book..."

And our team might get lucky...Ya never know...he shrugged...

"Enoufa dis!..." Anne hollered, grabbing Willow, as Allyson and Dru threw back the group attempting to charge them as they moved to help Willow and Giles...The rear door behind them now being pounded on from outside... She sank fangs into the screaming wiccan's neck as Giles cried out to her... "Anne!...Stop!..." " "Get ova dat door!..." she waved several to move round to secure the entrance...And whirled on Giles...A vicious rage in her face now that quite dispelled any thoughts he might have had of counting on the brew to restrain her...

"Enouf, already?...Watcher?..." she yelled...Holding the squirming, nearly unconscious Willow...

"No, Allyson!..." Giles called to the Slayer...She and Dru halting... "Get out while you can!..."

"One move and I's gonna kil'er!..." Anne screamed at the vampiress and Slayer duo... "Yous stay ri' dere!..." She poised herself over the now fully unconscious Willow's neck...A number of W-H staff now struggling to hold the rear door closed...

Dru and Allyson looked to Giles who shook his head... "Alright, Anne...We surrender!..." Dru called... "If you stop, now!..."

"Tell da other guys to stop!...The ones ada door!..." Anne waved at the rear door... Miss?...Dru turned to Allyson...

"I think they'd sooner listen to you..." she smiled wanly...

And this is Drusilla...Giles shook his head a brief moment as he watched...My God, how could I have been so cruel...so callous...As not to do something to help her...

Even if only to insist we hunt her down...And free her...

Never again...He vowed to himself while watching Anne's furious face...Never again will I consider the work done until every last tormented soul is safe, free...

And knows that someone cared...

"Anne...Allyson will go to them...Tell them to back off...Let Ms. Rosenberg go and she'll get them to leave...I'll stay..." Dru eyed her calmly...

"I want Willum...William..." Anne glared... "Tell 'em to give me my Will and then I'll let Willow alone...Otherwise..."

"She's useless to you as a vampire, Anne...Her power will not be retained..." Giles tried...

"Yeah?...But she's still a gud vamp, 'member Giles?...Yeah...Ya do..." a chuckle... "An' mebbe ya lyin'...But ok...Slayer..." she turned to Allyson... "Go ova dere and tell 'em to gimme my hon'...Willum...And get outta here...An' lil' Willow stays human...Fer now..."

Yeah...Lieutenant Harmony, having stumbled over to support her chief, chimed in firmly...Shed up...Anne frowned...Dragging Willow back to her chair, but holding her...

Allyson went to the door...The Wolfram-Hart staffers pulling back at Anne's annoyed wave... Camon ya idiots... "Hello?...This is Allyson Barnett...One of the Slayers..." she called... "Is that you, Mr. Angel?...Mr. Wyndham-Price?...Mr. William?..."

"Walthrop..." Anne called... "...Willum...So..hic...ames...Walthrop...Dat's his name..."

And mine...she beamed briefly...Eyeing Giles...

**"I Love Ya...Truly..."**

PG-13

Summary: With the aid of some demon brew, a little party at Angel's new offices to celebrate William's resurrection in LA gives Buffy her chance to say it and prove it...The hard way...

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Archived at the Cicelyverse page of the Buffy Rebecca verse, .

Or direct to story at .

Part XXXIX...

Limbo...

Where an increasing anxious Buffy was now beginning to receive rather grim impressions from Anne on Earth...Tara-Dru and Nast watching her with equal anxiety as she tried to describe what she was sensing...

In the distance Harmony's misty head staring at them...A cold, composed look on her face...

Something tells me...she thought as she watched the Slayer and her friends and heard fragments of Buffy's nervously delivered reports...

My time is almost here...At last...

Outside the rear door of Doublemeat franchise #10002...

"Lemme try..." Kennedy staggered at the door...Trying to move Andrew aside gently...Sor'...she called as he sailed back across the alley... "But I's the Slay...hic...er...An' I'll done it..." she banged on the door, nearly putting her fist through first the hastily dodging head of Wesley Wyndham-Price, and then the door...

"Wachit, girlie..." Angel called...Stumbling over... "Yes, please Kennedy..." Wes began as he got to his feet...Staring at the hole in the door...

Just as Allyson reached the door and called through, warning them of Anne's threat...

"Eh...Lemme giv' a lil' kick-kick...I'll pl...op...it ri' down..." Kennedy shrugged...Moving to give a hard kick...

Which Angel wound up on the receiving end of, as he tried Unmanfully to stop her...Having caught the general essence of Allyson's plea...

Ooof...he went briefly up in the air...And crashed down with a groan...

"People, you've got to pull back and send Mr..." "Wal...throp!..."Anne called... "Walthrop in to us...Anne will kill Ms. Rosenberg and the others if you don't!..." Allyson tried again...

"Kennedy!...Stop!..." Wesley grabbed at her...She blinking at him...Huh?... "We've got to fall back...Come back with me, now!..." Angel staggering back, still groaning a bit...

"But I gots it ope..." the Slayer frowned... "Lemme go in an' get her..."

"No..." Wes pulled her back... "Anne is going kill all our friends in there if we don't stop!...Now come back!..."

On the roof...Vamp Wolfram-Harter Terry now had nearly eased her way to William's hiding corner...

"Come out, I won't harm you...Human or otherwise...I have orders to bring you in..." she tried... "I know you're back there...And one of you seems to be hurt, judging by the blood..."

Though now I smell it up close...Hmmn...Not all that attractive a scent...In fact, it smells like...

"Yeah..." Will decided to give it a try... "My pard...ner here is...hic...kinda...banged up...I can' carry him alone...Couldya come back here an' gimme a hand wid him?..."

"Sure..." Terry gave a sour frown, donning face... What does this guy take me for...?

And what the hell has he been drinking...? She moved carefully to the little air conditioning unit Will was crouching behind...Jumping round...

Hmmn...Nobody...I...A heavy weight crashed down on her...

"Sor' luv..." Will apologetically noted as he stumbled to his feet... "Hated to do dat to a lass but Luv and Dooty callin'..." he eyed the unconscious vampiress he'd just fallen on top of, following his rather desperate leap straight up...

Whoa...he looked round as the roof, not designed for such antics, especially in that section, began to give a bit...

In front, on the street...

Lilah and Joseph, having as he noted, performed well beyond the call of duty...At least Evil duty...In creating their diversion, had fallen back to a hopefully well-concealed spot across the street...She noting the three staffers on guard duty at the front door as they emerged, looking for any signs of further attacks...

"We didn't get too many of them drawn away..." she hissed...Thank God for our sakes...she thought...

"Well, we've done our honorable best...It's up to Mr. Wyndham-Price's team now..." Joseph replied... "I feel confident, given their record..." Against us...Lilah thought... "That in spite of the handicap imposed by our..." he broke off as the three guards displayed astounding courage and initiative by coming, cautiously...Their way...

Geesh our people, and human, all three, to boot...Who the hell are these fellas?...

"Joseph, I don't think they're coming to offer their devoted service to their old, beloved leader..." Lilah whispered...

The three stopped in midstreet to look over the opposite side... "Who's there?..." one called...

"You kids are gonna be spending the night in jail if you don't stop this crap!..." another noted...

Phew...They think we're kids...Lilah sighed with relief...

"Why don't you come out?...We won't hurt you and we won't call the police if you come out now!..." the last tried...All three continuing to move across the street...

"Ah...It's Crenshaw, Spears, and Dalyrest...Three of our biggest suck-ups...I think they want to offer Anne a little tribute/night snack..." Joseph noted...

"We'd do in a pinch, I think..." Lilah eyed him... Yes, he nodded...But they're not likely to risk getting physical unless...

"I have a gun here, kids...Now don't be silly and make me think you're someone I should use it on..." the lead member of the three called...

...they have weapons at hand...Joseph sighed...

Hmmn...Crenshaw's yellower than a crayon sun and Spears turns green when he sees a little liquid on his yogurt...Lilah thought...

"Drop your weapon and give it up to the Slayer army!..." she suddenly cried in a loud voice, rising hastily and knocking over two of the trash cans she and Joseph had hidden behind...Tossing two sticks she'd found beside the cans...

"Holy Christ..." Spears ran for the Palace door, Crenshaw, firing his gun off wildly, following behind...Dalyrest, already lacking much confidence in the night's outcome, chose abject surrender, falling to his knees, wailing...

"Please,.Slayers!...I have a wife... " You loathe and tried to have killed twice...Lilah thought... "And kids..." Both of whom you offered to be sacrificed next year to Loki the junior demon lord of Grethus in order to score points with your supervisor... "...At home...!" he whined...As his comrades fought and tore at each other in trying to enter the front door...

As the fleeing two slipped in and relocked the door, she, followed by Joseph, hurried over to Dalyrest...Though, in her case...

"Keep kneeling, prisoner!..." she barked at Dalyrest as he groveled before her, not looking up...

"Lilah?...Are you hurt...?" Joseph hissed, eyeing her as she stumbled a bit, keeping a pencil from her pocket on Dalyrest's throat...

"Boss?...Is that...?" Dalyrest whispered... "Head down!..." Lilah shouted... "Or immediate staking!..." She pushed the pencil point harder into his neck... "I'm human..." he gasped... "No exceptions for enemy scum!..."

"That's right, it's me!..." Joseph growled... "I've formed an alliance with the Slayers to deal with your traitors and your ridiculous Queen and you'll be the first to feel the wrath..."

"I was only following orders, Boss...From my superior...We on G10 middle-management aren't supposed to take initiative without permission..."

"Close your eyes!...Get up!..." Lilah growled... "Turn left!...Eyes front!...Look straight ahead only!...Run!...And don't stop until you reach our holding facility three blocks straight ahead or you're fair meat to the rest of our people moving up!...Go!..." Dalyrest ran off...

"Nice job, my dear..." Joseph beamed as Dalyrest disappeared up the street... "Why did we ever hire staff like that?..." he sighed...

"You wanted them docile and whipped in the junior human ranks..." she frowned, stumbling again...Reaching out for support... "Lilah?..." Joseph took her arm...

"I think I'm shot..." she gasped... "Just grazed my leg...I'll be ok..."

"Let me get you to the others in back...Wyndham-Price has a car..." he carefully led her over towards the side alley to the back...Watching the front door for any signs of returning courage on the guards' part... "It'll just take a minute..."

I...she leaned on him, starting to collapse... "Lilah..." he gasped...Lowering her to the ground as gently as he could...

"Guess Crenshaw's a better shot..." she began...Grimacing...He knelt beside her and eyed her leg, bleeding profusedly now...He pulled off his tie and put it ound, just above her knee...

"That should help with the bleeding...Stay here...I'll get help..." he rose...Eyeing her sternly...

Remember, Ms. Morgan...As my last trustworthy employee, I rely on you to stay at your post here on Earth...he frowned at her...

"Right...Thanks, Boss..." she smiled wanly at him...

Inside the main hall of Doublemeat Palace # 10002...

"So...Lemme..." Hey!...The other Partner's head called from behind... "Ok...Let...Us...Get this straight, Ms. Summers...Fred..." Slight glare at the former vice-president clearly still pushing for promotion under the latest regime... "Angel and William imbibed our idiot colleague Joseph's demon brew...As did your counterpart..." Yeah, yeah...Anne nodded impatiently...Harmony standing beside her, holding the unconscious Willow...

"And instead of Angel and Spike battling it out with Angel weakened by the brew...You three ended up having a little get-together party and your counterpart wound up dead...Vampirally...By her own choice?..."

Dat's wha' we been tellin' ya, pal...

Mmphf...The other head chuckled... "Hey!..." Anne glared... "She done it fer luv!...Wuz a sac...sarcif...She done it fer luv!..."

Is she sloshed?...First Head eyed her...

And he done'nt too...she added...Not wishing to deny Will his role...Oh... "Hey, did dose guys chek out da roof yet?..." she turned to Fred...Who looked back to his staff...Ummn...

"Well, get mor' guys and find out who's it is hangin' round up dere!...Now!...And don' ya hurt ma Willum if he's dere..!..." Fred waved off two more staffers who headed for the rear exit...

"And mak' sure Wes' guys are leavin'!...Tel dat Slayer Ally to tel 'em everybudy here's ded if they don'...And William betta be cumin'...!"

She turned back to the heads...

"And yous guys gimme a cure for dis brew gunk, now!..."

"Listen, lady..." the first Head growled... "We don't answer even to Buffy Summers' demon...You're looking for help from us, you ask politely..."

Yeah...The second Head called from behind... "Shut up, Adolf.." First Head hissed... "Besides, Ms. Summers...How do we know your agenda and ours match up?...Your deposing our dimwitted third Partner while rather hilarious..." Yeah...Second Head chuckled a bit... "Poor ole Joe..." "Can it, Dolf!...Hardly looks like cooperation in Evil to me, miss..."

Hmmn...Clearly diplomacy was called for, Anne realized, her born leader instincts kicking in...

Gotta use the ole wiles...

"Guys, cum on...Lookie at me..." she took demon face, smiling...God, I hate demon face the First Head thought...Especially with such a pretty kid... "Does I look lik I'm onea da gud ones?.."

I's da new Queana da Anned...Damned...And, wid Willum at ma side, I's gonna rule all...

"In da namea Evil, natch..." she beamed slyly at the First Head... "Sos wes really Pardners...Guys...And if ya hep me...I'll tak carea ya and ya guys..."

Hell, could she be any worse than that idiot Joe?...Second Head thought...

"What do you think, Dolf...?" First Head asked... "Considering the current condition of our firm, Mao...Why not?..." Second Head replied... "If nothing else, having Ms. Summers' soul watching the fireworks from Heaven or Limbo or wherever should be ample revenge even if (and when...he kindly spared the W-H staffers scattered about the room his depressing evaluation of the situation) we fail..."

"All right...Ms. Summers?..." Yeah, dat's me...Still waitin on ya...Morons...Anne frowned...

"We'll help you...On condition that we have an alliance and you now take your marching orders from us and our appointed delegates..." Second Head repressed a chuckle...Wait till she sees our new "appointed chief delegate"...That alone will be worth it...

"Marchin fro' who?..." she glared... "Lis' you...I's the demmen a' Buffy Summers and Cics Walthrop...And I don' tak nuthin' fro' no...Body...hic..."

"Fine then...Good luck..." the First Head began fading, Second as well... "Hol' up!..." she called...

Yeah?... The Heads returned...Eyeing her...

"Cum on guys...Sup...Pos...I's go fifty-fifty widcha and I promise to talk things ova?...Yous can advise me...Lika Council of Evil Watchas..."

Oh, please...Second Head thought...The way that Summers kid treated the Council and its Chairman?...If I had been Quentin Travers...And she were my Slayer...

"Nobody hurts William...Or ma udder guys..." she waved at the chained and bound group...

Exceptin' me, course when I kils em all...If I decide ta...

"Sixty-forty..." First Head replied... "And we get praise for our sage advice at every victory celebration...And ritual sacrifice..."

Mao?... "It's Summers and Cicely Walthrop's demon , Dolf...We could actually have a prayer with her on our side...Once she's restored to her full dark glory..."

"Yeah..." Anne nodded eagerly... "Ma ful dar' glor'...Yas right, baldy..."

"Give a moment to consult our sources..." First Head frowned...Then smiled slightly...

"Our delegates will bring the information...And our orders...Shortly..."

"Ok...Geta muv on..." Anne waved...

Hmmn...Harmony eyed the fading heads, then Anne...Wher's ma ful dar' glor'?...And ma Xanda?...Nobody says nuthin bout him...she frowned...Handing the limp Willow to a staffer who carried her over by Giles and the now resecured Drusilla, and began rechaining her at Anne's beheast...

Mebbe Drusie's idee wasn't so...

Everyone...Fred, the hanging Melvin, the other W-H staffers, Anne, Harmony, chained Giles, Dawn, and Dru...With the exception of poor Willow and Brenda...Looked up at a sharp, sudden sound overhead to see a crack develop in the roof near a vent, not far from where Mel's rope was attached...

A foot now appeared...Plaster and paint falling from the ceiling...

"Geesh..." Anne glared at Fred... "Some place ya guys picked...Hey!..." she stared up at the wriggling foot... "I knows dat shoe and sock...Hey!...Willum!..." she called, happily...Oh!...

"Yous guys..." she waved a bunch of startled staffers... "Get a ladda and get my hon' down...Or up, den down...But get 'im...Now!..."

"Ahem..." a familiar voice called, as she whirled... "Ms. Summers?...Hey...I come bearing a message from your new leaders..."

Holy Chris'...she gasped at the floating image in front of her...

"Not exactly..." a second, equally familiar voice chuckled... "That would be my counterpart, outside..."

"Great seein' ya again, Buffy...Ummn, sorry...Anne..." Warren smiled...Grinning at the image of Angelus beside him, both reclining rather comfortably in their Hell office easy chairs...Beer mugs in hand...

"You..." she stared...

"Chief liaison and in the temporary absence of our beloved First, owing to some personal health problems, managing director of Hell, Warren Mears...At your service, ex-Slayer..." he grinned...

"I believe you know my assistant, Mr. Angelus..."

**"I Love Ya...Truly..."**

PG-13

Summary: With the aid of some demon brew, a little party at Angel's new offices to celebrate William's resurrection in LA gives Buffy her chance to say it and prove it...The hard way...

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Archived at the Cicelyverse page of the Buffy Rebecca verse, .

Or direct to story at .

Part XL...

The rear area of the Doublemeat Palace HQ of Wolfram-Hart, Inc...

A rope and chain-secured, seated Dawn eyed the unconscious Willow chained in a plastic seat next to her, bleeding slightly from where Anne had sunk fangs briefly...Then looked over to where Anne was negotiating, somewhat reluctantly...And thanks to demon brew, wobbily, with the new chief operating manager of Hell, Warren Mears, and his 'assistant', Angelus...Her equally plastered vampiral lieutenant, Harmony and her more or less human, would-be prime minister, former W-H VP Fred by her side...Then over to the rear door of the building where most of the remaining motley crew of the battered remnants of Wolfram-Hart, Inc were now taking up defensive positions should Wes' team outside attempt another attack...And though which door a few more had gone, in order to fetch a currently trapped William from the roof...His foot in shoe still visibly twisting in the hole in the ceiling at the center of the main hall, as he obviously continued to try to extricate himself...

Hmmn...Her eyes now met Giles, likewise scanning the near-disaster scene...

It doesn't take my brew-enhancing intellect to see things are not looking very good for us...And if Anne gets cured of said brew now...

Well, at least I'll have the satisfaction of knowing that in Heaven when this is all over Mom is sure to back me up in giving sis hell for this latest romantic idiocy of hers...

Letting herself be vamped...Even if she was under the influence...

Of love...A grin appearing...Giles eyeing her...

I mean...Sure I'd do something romantically crazy for Andrew...Er, for love... If absolutely necessary...But something practical in its craziness...

Say like pushing his...er, whoever's...Football team rival down a flight of stairs...(Well, maybe Dungeons-and-Dragons team rival, lets be realistic here)...But something practical, useful, non Humanity-, hopefully even non life-threatening, yet totally deranged...

Say if sis had clubbed Will silly back at the crater, dragged him to the surface, blasted the First into goo at the last minute with the amulet right at the entrance despite the threat to Humanity ...And the danger of having Giles lecture her later on the Slayer's Duty...

Now that I could see myself doing...But this vamp thing...With demon Anne possibly winning and getting William?...Or at least Spike...As her personal lap dog?...Please...

Of course...Annie is a part of Buffy...So I suppose...In a way...Sis wins no matter what...

And risking us all to prove her love is kinda...Another grin...

Hmmn?...Some scheme occurring to her, courtesy the brain-booster effect?...Giles wondered, trying to catch her eye...

Hmmn...No...He frowned now, recognizing that vague, preoccupied look all too well after so many years with Buffy...

Whoever he is, hardly the time or place...

"I'm so sorry I've failed you all, Ms. Summers..." Dru, now herself resecured in her chair with holy circle reestablished about her, on Dawn's opposite side, hissed...

"Hmmn?...Oh, not at all, Dru...No sweat..." Dawn whispered back...One of the three guards about them glaring at her...No talking, she commanded...

Hmmn...Dru looked carefully at her...Human...And not very up on my history, given that she's giving me a direct, apparently intended to intimidate, stare...

Which she, giving appropriate thanks to God for allowing his newly redevoted servant the use of her old dark powers in the cause of Right, returned...In gentle force...

Mouthing a few words repeatedly...As the young woman, a former rather ambitious administrative assistant, continued to stare, somewhat less intimidatingly...

Fortunately the other two guards dividing their attention between the group at the rear door and the weird scene in the center of the room...Where two guys, supposedly direct from Hell, were sitting in easy chairs floating in a little pool of mist just off the floor, surrounded by a fair degree of rather lovely identical attendants...

All of whom looked rather like the famed Slayer, their current queen...Much to said queen's obvious irritation as she frowned at them...

Dawn glancing briefly at Dru's effort, but quickly away, not wishing to attract attention...

Willow moaned softly in her chair...In some degree of thrall now, Dawn realized...Lovely...

Hmmn...She looked down at the floor...In the confusion, no one among the enemy had thought to replace the energy-draining orb by Willow...

I wonder...Thrall vs brew?...Certainly thrall, given its repressive effects is likely to induce a calming effect...And a general degree of suggestibility...

"Willow?..." she whispered... "Willow, do you hear me?...I want you to nod your head if you do..."

A faint nod...More soft moaning...

"I want you to focus, Willow...Your power is slowly returning...I want you to focus on your power..." she paused as one guard turned briefly back to them...

Dru's guard now looking away from her and moving about the prisoners...The other guard looked at her... "They ok, Stepf?..."

"Just checking..." Stepf nodded back...A bit wanly...Coming to halt by Dru...The last of the three guards now also looking over the prisoners...

Giles giving Dawn a brief, hard stare from his seat...She, watched by the third guard, merely blinked at him...

"So..." Warren smiled magnanimously at Anne...Angelus leering at a Buffy attendant from his chair, then contentedly eyeing the infuriating effect on the new demon queen...

"Anne...You need a little help, eh?...Or so I understand from my employers..."

"Tell him ta send da bitches away...Now..." Anne waved an angry hand at Angelus...Who gave an innocently angelic smile...

"Now Anne...I expect a little more courtesy from you as one of our own..." Warren solemnly noted...

But ok... "Mr. Angelus, if you would be so kind as to ask our ladies to take five..."

"But of course, Mr. Mears..." Angelus grinned... "Buffies?...We're on for sex later...Take a break, girls..."

"Where's ma cur' for dis stuf...?" Anne growled... "Ya betta have it...Now!..."

"Gee...Or what are you gonna do, girlie?..." Mears grinned at her...

"Put a hand through my astral projection?..." he chuckled...

"If'n I don' mak' it...I gos back to Hell..." she noted... "An' da first thing I dos, is I comes ta see you..." she eyed him coldly...

Hmmn...He blinked in spite of himself at her raging, demon face...

A very likely scenario...Given his lack of faith in this operation...

Angelus looking a tad nervous now as well...Hadn't thought of that...She would wind up here...With them...

Perhaps it might be best to bend a few efforts to further the common cause of Evil...he noted quietly to his companion...

And at least get her to the point of no particular interest in ever paying either of them a visit...he hissed as Anne turned to check on the efforts to retrieve William from his somewhat embarrassing position...Foot still wriggling, she noted...Great...

Hmmn...As befitting the new, if temporary, commander of Evil's legions, Warren could see the necessity of putting aside past antagonisms for the joint effort...

"We should be able to do something about your condition, Anne..."

Gud...she frowned at him... "Den do it...Cause we got some trouble here and I needs ta be ma bes'...Especially wid Willum cummin' bac' wid' me..." she beamed at the end...

"So les' get on wid' it..." another glare at her new co-belligerent...Warren looking back to where aides out of the misty vision awaited his pleasure... "Bring the stuff, girls..." he waved...

"Look out below!..." the still-hanging Melvin called from his perch near the ceiling...As William's shoe came loose and fell to the floor...Anne looking up...

Hmmn...No bare foot...Just the hole...Demmit...

But naturally she couldn't repress a lil' jot of pride...Bombed or no, my guy ain't no pull...er push-ova...

Hmmn...One of the four staffers now on the roof eyed the rat running from where it had been in Will's empty sock...Providing the wriggling William had needed to convince them below that he was still trapped...

Our new queen is not gonna like this...he noted to a still woozy Terry who'd just recovered consciousness...

"Hey, ya morons up dere?..." they now heard said furious queen yelling... "Did ya get him?...Ya betta have got him!...Or else!...Harmony?..." below Anne turned to her swaying, rather sleepy lieutenant...

Yeah?...

"Go up dere and see if deys got ma hon'...And if dey din't...Kill em all!...Now!..." Anne howled at her...Harm staggering off, muttering a bit...

Don' get no respect...Not even a 'please, Harm, go and kill em all'...

Geesh...Anne looked down a moment...Contemplating Will's shoe on the ground...

Don' Willy wanna be wid one of us?...Heck, he knows I'm Buf/Cics too...If he luvs us he oughta be down here tryin' to trick me inta lettin' Buf back in...

Mebbe dere's someone...Else?...the terrifying thought intruded...She looked hastily and grimly over at Dru...Who was maintaining a quiet and calm air...The guard Stepf still near her, likewise rather quiet and calm...

Nah...He killed Buffy-me for love...she thought happily...An' he's just tryin' ta kep outta ma clutches til he figures out wha' ta do...

Hope Buf in Heaven or wherever is appreciatin' our guy's efforts...

"Ma'am...?" Fred cut in on her ruminations... "About killing another ten percent of our remaining force?...While we're still under siege here?..."

Outside, the rear parking lot of Doublemeat Palace franchise #10002...

Wesley faced his team, thankfully now at least supplemented with one non-brew-stupored Slayer, the escaped Allyson...Who despite said escape was in considerable depression over the failure to rescue the others...

Which was not exactly encouraging Angel's brew-enhanced Brood to lighten...

Failed ma friends...Wha's Ma gonna say?...And Buf's soul is probably talking to her in Heaven ri' now...

"Sure and hard as it is to admit...My Liam's just no good, Buf..." Ma's probably sayin' to her ri' now...

Not ta mention...Pa...Angel sighed...

Joseph, looking rather frantic...Rushing to them... "Lilah's...Ms. Morgan's been shot!...I need some help!..."

Wes stared at the little man... If I didn't know better...And maybe I don't...I'd say that little whatever he really is...Is genuinely concerned for her...

What is this thing called love?...he sighed...Staring at Joseph's anxious face...Spike let himself be driven back to Hell for it...William died for it...Buffy...And Anne...Are ready to risk everything for it...

Above, clinging to the wall of the Palace in a reasonably well-concealed corner, William considered the tactical situation...Several demons on the roof, about three...No, five now, out in the immediate courtyard before the rear door...

Wes' team apparently pulled back after their initial try...

What to do?...Jump the W-H group below in his current somewhat unda da weda state and he'd no doubt be having an audience with a very pleased demon Queen shortly...

Go back to the roof...Likely immediate capture...

Stay and sooner or later one of the demons or that rather pretty vamp who'd come at him before was sure to sense him...If he didn't lose his grip long before that...

Well, maybe it was best to go on and just boldly confront the fiend using his beloved's body...

After all, she liked him...He'd no doubt of that...At the very least he might persuade her to release a couple of the others...

"Spike!..." a voice hissed...A hand touching his shoulder...

Crap...Xander sighed as the startled William fell towards the knot of W-Hers below...

Well, climbing up from further down the back wall out of sight of the Wolfram-Hart types and inching over to help him had seemed like a good idea when he'd spotted Will from the ground...

**"I Love Ya...Truly..."**

PG-13

Summary: (S8 AU...) With the aid of some demon brew, a little party at Angel's new offices to celebrate William's resurrection in LA gives Buffy her chance to say it and prove it...The hard way...

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Archived at the Cicelyverse page of the Buffy Rebecca verse,.

Or direct to story at .

Part XLI...

On the roof...

Terry, the vampiress leading the W-H group assigned to bring the supposedly trapped William down, had now caught sight of the figure a few feet below them trying to make its way down the Palace wall...A chance to recoup her embarrassing failure...

A cry from the ground below as something large crashed down on top of them...Hmmn...She and the others looked down...Hmmn...Vague dark shapes flat on the ground...Nothing moving, looks bad...Well, nothing to be done about that, just hope it was somebody other than the object of Queen Anne's affection...She looked back to the side...The figure, William?...Was carefully inching along...

"You!..." she called... "Get up here and surrender...We have crossbows on you, William or whoever you are...Get up here, I mean it!...You know we won't kill you, c'mon..."

Fire just past him...And don't hit him or we're all dead...she hissed to the demon beside her taking aim...An arrow whizzed by the figure...

"That's a warning shot, William...Get up here now!..." The figure remained plastered against the building wall...

She shined a flashlight... "I see you..." Vaguely... "The next shot hits you, take your choice...!"

The figure paused and began moving to the fire escape ladder...

"That's right, straight up, whoever you are, we've orders to take you alive or Undead..."

Oh my God…Terry the Vampiress stared at the fantasy taken mortal form in front of her…

"Drop anything you got..." the demon holding the crossbow insisted...

"That's it..." Xander sighed, dropping stake...

"You…You're Xander Harris…" Terry put hand to mouth…Hmmn…Tasty…Must have really cut myself when William jumped me…

Ye…ah…he nodded, staring at the rather attractive brunette in reasonably attractive yet professional suit… "And you're one of Queen Annie's minions?...Undead minions..." he noted, as she stopped licking her wrist with an apologetic look...

"Terry…Ingram, I think it used to be…Yeah…But I work for Wolfram-Hart, Inc…" she noted rather proudly…

"Just another subdivision of Evil, Amalgamated as far as I'm concerned, lady…"

Why is she looking at me like that?...he thought…Do I look like I had beef or something else extra bloody for dinner last night or something?...

"I can't believe I'm actually meeting you…Xander…" she gushed a bit… "Please stay where you are or I will have to kill you…Let Anne know we've got him..." she turned to the human member of her group... "We'll bring him down in a minute..."

"You know me?..." he stared… "What female hybrid human-vamp doesn't…If she has anything resembling a heart…Stopped or no…" she replied…

Uh…Xander blinked at his eager Undead groupie…First Harm, now this one...

Great…And I thought the 'demon magnet' thing was over…

Below, on the ground...

Uhnnn...Will looked round...Phew, fall broken by something now dead...or hopefully Undeader...Ah, good...Demon...He looked round about...

Better, two demons...Looking out of commission for at least a while...Just gotta get moving and link up with Angel and Wes...

Well, things are starting to...

"Hands up, stand up...!" a sharp cry from one of the survivors of the rest of the group he'd fallen among...

In the main hall of the Palace...Jubilation...

A beaming Queen, brew cure and negotiations forgotten in the joy of the moment, racing for her beloved...

"Willy!..." she leaped at him...William looking a bit discouraged as he eyed the other prisoners his guards were leading him past...Sorry, fel...he began...Cut off by a sudden blow to his chest as Anne crashed into him...

"Willum!...Ya here!...Oh, babe!...Uh, sorry..." she apologized, trying to simultaneously embrace him and lift him from where she'd knocked him to the floor...

At the same moment, Terry and her demon assistant returned bearing their prisoner...

"It's Xanda!..." Harmony let out a yell on spying the group entering from the rear door... "Xanda!...Get him ova here!..." she waved eagerly...

"Everybody in the underworld knows the story of Xander and Anya…" Terry was continuing, a tad gushing…Move another step that way and I will rip your throat out…she politely warned him as he tried to slide to the left, considering the odds of making a break to reach the guys, having spotted Willow, Dawn, Dru...Dru?... and Giles secured in their chairs…My job, she apologized…

"Didn't exactly have the most romantic ending, An and me…" Xander noted…Catching sight of Anne and William on the ground...Does not look good for our team...

Oh, no…Terry shook her head… "It was beautiful…The lover leaves to spare his beloved from his family curse…Angel couldn't have done better…And the beloved by her heroic death, is redeemed from a past worse than Spike's…You two have got it over everybody in tragic romance..."

"An died…and I wasn't…"

Oh-oh…Dawn hearing, shook her head…"Xander, this is not the time for an emotional descent into the abyss…" she called..

"…there…" he choked up a bit… "Oh, she knows you would've if you could've, I'm sure of it…" Terry replied, sympathetically…"I'm so sorry to bring it up…I know it must so hard for you…"

"I've tried to deal…" he looked at the wall, shaking his head… "But knowing I hurt her so…Having her gone like that without me even there…"

"Xander…Time and place…" Giles tried…

Wuz the hell's goin' on ova der?...Lieutenant Harmony looked over to where Terry stood with Xander…Why ain't she brung Xanda?...

Did dat vamp-itch jest try ta mak a move on my guy?...she glared…Starting to move…

"Willum...Ya ok?..." Anne helped him to his feet... "I'm gonna kill everybuddy...And I means my buds...If ya try gettin' away from me, ya know...Oh, it's so great to have ya back!..." she hugged him...Uhnnn...

"Ma'am?..." Would-be Prime Minister Fred anxiously fussed at the somewhat annoyed Queen...Hey I'm wid ma honey here...Ma sweet widdle Willy...she beamed...

"Anne..." he tried..."Ya better stop dis..."

And not so widdle, we know, huh Will?...she giggled at him... "Aw, honey..." she patted his arm, waving for a couple of guards to begin chaining him up... "When I gets freea dis brew, lets go in the back and mess around...Buf won' mind...And ain' got nuthin' to say on it anyways..."

"Anne...I'm tellin' ya...I..."

I won' turn Dawny if ya nice ta me...she gave him a beguiling look...

"Ma'am...Your partners from Hell..." Fred tried again, waving to indicate the mist reforming in the center of the room...Ok, ok...she groused...

"I know it must be terrible…I mean…I remember from when I was alive and had a very nice husband…You look so much like him…" Terry tried a consoling tone as Xander looked over to Dawn, she now giving a slight glance toward Willow...

"Whom I killed my first night out…Along with my little girl…But I felt awful afterwards…Even with the link to pure evil and all…"

"I'm not so bad…Really…" she sighed…

"I gots the cure for da brew cumin'...Oh, Willy ya came jest at da ri' time..." Anne noted fondly...Leading, dragging the newly chained William towards the center of the room where the mist was now allowing vague shapes to be made out... "Dat's my hell boys callin'...Cum on, honey...I got everythin' all set..."

"Anne, if ya don' stop..." Will pulled back...Stumbling...Anne, holding one of his chains like a leash, stumbling as well...Demmit, Will...

"Be fair, geesh...Ya lost, and Annie's won, fair and square...But it's ok...Ya did real gud and it's gonna be fine...Most everybody's gonna be ded...But it's gonna be a-ok...I won' run out on ya lik' Cics and Buf did...We's gonna be tagether fureva..."

"Hol' shit..." William stared at the new C-in-C of Hell and his top aide now becoming visible in the mist...

"Hey..." Warren beamed... "How's my best bot customer?..." "William the soul, I presume?...Great day to be Evil, eh pal?..." Angelus grinned...

Gonna kil'…Kil…Kill!… Harmony tensed as she began to hurry toward the rear where Terry continued her efforts to get acquainted…

"I mean…" a pause… "I'm evil, of course…Soulless to the core…"

A wistful look…

"But I could try to be good…For you, Xander…Like Spike for Buffy Summers…"

I know I'm being a little forward... she noted...

Holy shit!...Melvin, still hanging from his harness overhead, made a rather gallant, considering the harsh punishment meted out to him, effort to stem the developing disaster unfolding below... "Hey, guys!..." he called as Harmony's charge now caught several of the earthbound staffers' attentions...

"Willow..." Dawn hissed... "Focus on your power...Feel your power flowing back..."

Ummn…Xander blinked as Terry moved closer and patted him…"But God, Xander...There aren't many like you..."

And a raging Harmony, now airborne with a leap and war cry, crashed into her…


End file.
